Twins in the End
by Kukaburry
Summary: Avry grew up in a very secluded and strict house with abusive parents and a sister that everyone adored. Once at Hogwarts, Avry meets Fred Weasley and quickly realizes they have nothing in common. Besides having a twin.
1. Reflecting Pool

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 1 - Reflecting Pool

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><p>Avry and Mandy Saunders walked obediently behind their parents. Both wore matching floral print, cotton dresses and had their amber hair in identical pig-tails. The manicured lawn down the walkway foretold of high status of the people they were visiting. Their father, Henry Saunders, was a magistrate in the chambers of the Ministry so the girls knew what it was to be wealthy, but they had never seen such opulence in their five years of existence. A hefty charm had been cast over the property, disallowing any form of apparation or disapparation within the grounds which meant every guest had to walk a full kilometer in order to reach the house.<p>

"Daddy I'm tired," Mandy's cry broke the companionable silence.

Henry bent down and patted little Mandy on the head. "Jump up on my back, cupcake," he said and turned around for her to jump on.

"Daddy, can I go too?" Avry asked.

"No, let your sister go first."

Avry pouted and pulled on her mother's arm. "Mum, pick me up."

Her mother shook Avry's arm off and stared down sternly. "You heard your father. You'll get your turn next. You have to wait."

Sighing, Avry kicked a stray pebble and stalked angrily on the side of the path, as far away from her parents as she could get. It was always like this, Avry knew she wouldn't get a chance to ride on her father's shoulders. Her twin sister always got what she wanted while Avry watched in jealous silence. If she complained she would be punished. 'Patience' was what her parents drilled into her head day after day.

"Where are we going?" Mandy asked from her perch on top of her father's shoulders.

"We're going to the minister of magic's house."

Mandy shook her head, confused. "But, why can't we floo?"

"Because we have to keep the minister safe. It would be bad if dangerous people could floo into his house."

"Why can't he shut off his floo from people he doesn't like?" Avry asked curiously.

"The floo system doesn't work like that, of course."

"How does it work? Why does it only connect certain houses."

"Avry, stop pestering your mother," her father said sternly. "Why don't you ask the minister yourself about the floo system?"

Avry bit her lip and sighed. She stared at the hedge rows and noticed how well-manicured and intimidating they looked. Her parents owned a large estate in Surrey, so it was not like she had never seen a large house before, but even this opulence boggled her five-year-old mind. She briefly glimpsed a large, stone fountain through the cracks of the hedge rows that had a Minotaur as the central figure. She turned to exclaim her fascination, but realized that her parents were now rounding a turn several paces in front of her.

She jogged a few steps to catch up and caught site of the extravagant house ahead. It sat proudly on top of a sloping hill and its many windows glinted gloriously in the morning sun. The entire house was made of a fine white stone and a dark trim of black marble made it look even more elegant. "Come, Avry, we can't leave you behind," her mother yelled from the top of the hill. She hadn't realized she had stopped walking to take in the grandiose view.

Once she crested the hill, her mother took her hand and led her to the entrance of the mansion. A butler met them at the door and led them through the hallway to the sitting room where a medium sized group had gathered. Everyone wore fashionable cloaks and dress robes for the occasion, especially a lovely woman in an emerald green dress holding the hand of a young blond boy who looked like he was going to start crying any minute. Avry decided that her new favorite color was emerald green.

"These are my daughters, Mandy and Avry." Avry was pulled back to the present by her mother tugging on her hand. She turned to face a jolly looking woman with round cheeks and a tiny nose.

"Hello," she said in time with her sister, adding in a perfect smile that her parents had taught her to give.

"Oh what little darlings you have," the woman bellowed jovially. "Such good manners. How old are you?"

"I'm five and a half!" Avry replied quickly.

"Darling," Her mother said in a tone that only Avry knew to be warning.

"I mean _we're _five and a half!" She corrected with a strained smile.

"How lovely." She admired their identical smiles and turned to their mother. "Before you know it, they'll be off to Hogwarts just like you." The conversation continued and Avry zoned out quickly, looking for something else to entertain herself.

Spotting a group of people with violently red hair near the back of the room, she realized there were far too many of them. Their less fashionable robes caught her attention and she wondered why they didn't dress as nicely as everyone else in the room. None of them had pretty emerald robes or dresses on, merely simple browns and blacks with lace trimming. "Look over there," she whispered to her sister. "They look weird."

"They look poor," Mandy observed. "And their hair is really red."

"Yeah they're really poor. But their dad works at the Ministry." She pondered this for a moment, wondering why a family at the Ministry would be so poor. When clarity continued to escape her young mind, she turned her attention to the large windows on her left. She could see the head of the Minotaur through the branches of a low sakura tree. The high-noon sun turned its horns a scintillating gold.

"Mandy. Avry. Come meet your father's work friends." Avry was dragged away from her perfect view and forced to act cute and smiley in front of several strangers for the next hour. Avry didn't mind being her parent's second half of a perfect pair of twins. She knew people liked twins and preened under the attention people gave her and Mandy. She enjoyed being the only set of twins she knew of.

A bell chimed loudly announcing the start of lunch. The adults were shown into a large, grand dining room while the children were ushered into a smaller side room with extra nannies to watch everyone. Plates of sandwiches and cups of juice were set down on several small tables throughout the room and the children all scrambled forward to get their shares.

Avry got pushed aside by a tall girl with black hair. Mandy had managed to squeeze to the front of the crowd to grab milk and a ham sandwich. "Mandy, get me one!" She tried to yell over the din, but she was just far enough away that her voice didn't carry. She watched impatiently as several children nabbed two or three sandwiches leaving fewer and fewer options for Avry to choose from. When the tall girl in front of her walked away with a full plate Avry realized that only one roast brisket sandwich was left on the table. She reached out just as a tall boy across from her took the sandwich for himself.

"Hey, that's mine!" She growled, stomping around the table to challenge the boy for the food. His red hair came into view as he stepped back into a patch of sunlight. He was one of the children from the poor family earlier and looked a bit thin for his height. "Never mind," she grumbled, "you can have it."

She looked around for a nanny or butler to ask for more food. The boy's hand shot out and caught her shoulder. "Here," he held the sandwich between his hands and ripped it down the middle. "You can have part of it."

"No, I can get another one," she said, embarrassed that he went through the trouble of giving her half his sandwich.

"If you're hungry, take it," the boy insisted. He held the second half out temptingly while Avry's stomach gave a mighty growl.

She held her hand out and accepted the sandwich gratefully. "Thanks." She took a large bite of the sandwich and looked curiously at the boy next to her. "I'm Avry," she said between chews.

"I'm Fred," he replied quickly, attempting to keep his half-chewed food in his mouth. "My dad works in muggle artifacts."

"Neat, my dad is a magistrate." Neither Fred nor Avry knew what that word meant, but both acted like they did. "I'm five and a half," Avry announced proudly.

Fred grinned, feeling superior. "I'm five and three-quarters."

A bell rang near the entrance to the kitchen, distracting both Avry and Fred from their competition. "More food is served. Everyone gets seconds," a short and curvy nanny announced with a platter of food in her hands.

Both Fred and Avry jumped forward into the crowd, bumping shoulders and elbows with every child next to them. The same tall girl from before appeared behind Avry's shoulder and pushed her way between Fred and Avry. Suddenly, Avry found herself lost in a sea of children without Fred or Mandy in sight. This time, Avry pushed her way forward and managed to grab a whole turkey sandwich and orange juice before shuffling to a back wall.

She scarfed down her food followed quickly by the juice and breathed a sigh of relief. A glint of sunlight hit her when she moved a step to the left and she remembered the minotaur statue outside. She wanted very badly to go outside and see it up close. Taking a look around, Avry noticed that the nannies and butlers had their hands full with unruly children. A look of pure innocence overtook her features as she made her way to the back door. No one would suspect a thing. Two steps from the door, Avry spotted Mandy sitting in a chair a couple of paces away.

"Mandy, come on," she whispered. "Let's go see the water."

Mandy thought for a moment then nodded her head obediently. "Okay, I'll go." She always partook in her sister's games since she could never think of any herself.

The twins inhaled the damp spring air as they galloped down the pristine grass hill towards the secret fountain. Mandy, naturally faster than Avry, touched the cool stone with her hand and yelled "First!".

"Not fair," Avry whined. "You always beat me."

"Then run faster," Mandy giggled. "Oh, I think I see a statue over there," she pointed through the hedgerow.

Avry, not interested in any other statue than the minotaur shrugged and watched Mandy scramble through the thick branches on her hands and knees. A warm breeze blew a few petals across Avry's face and onto the clear, reflective surface of fountain sending tiny ripples lapping against the stone sides. Avry leaned forward and plucked a small white bud from the water, admiring the silk texture.

"Hey this is neat!" A male voice spoke from behind her. Startled, Avry dropped the bud and jumped around. Fred, grinning like a school boy, stood staring at the large minotaur statue.

"How'd you get here?" She squeaked. "The nannies didn't see?"

"I snuck out earlier to find the minotaur fountain. My dad said it was neat."

Sighing in relief, Avry smiled at Fred in return. "It is cool. I saw from the front path." They both turned to take in the sight of the minotaur etched against the pale blue sky.

"Avry, Avry, the statue is so cool!" Mandy interrupted their dual contemplation. "It's a dolphin and a mermaid!" She yelped happily. "Oh, hi," she stopped quickly when she realized Avry was not alone.

Fred's eyes widened in surprise when he looked from Mandy's auburn hair, hazel eyes and round cheeks to Avry's identical features. "Wait, you're..."

"Fred! Did you find it?"

Avry snapped her head up and saw a tall boy waltzing down the hill towards them, red hair ablaze with rays of sunlight. Avry took in his tall, lanky figure and brown eyes and turned back to Fred. It suddenly hit her.

Avry and Fred yelled in unison. "You're twins?"

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><p>Hello, hello, hello.. and all that. Another story has crept its way into my brain. I'm going insane in the membrane with classes this semester so this is my stress relief. This is the holy hell of semesters guys, let me tell you. Any who I hope you all have been lovely and healthy and are looking forward to the next chapter for this and my other stories. Three incredibly difficult midterms next week – I'll be writing a crap ton let me tell you. :D<p> 


	2. Sorting Through Twins

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 2 - Sorting Through Twins

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><p>"I've never met another twin before," Avry gasped, excited and scared at the prospect of people like her and Mandy.<p>

Fred's brother grinned. "Yep, you're freaks just like us. Be careful, they like to run experiments on twins. You better hope they don't choose you two. You'll never be heard from again."

Mandy yelped in shock, and tears began flowing down her cheeks. "No, I don't want to get experimented on," she wept loudly.

Fred rolled his eyes. "He was just kidding." Wiping her runny nose, Mandy looked up hopefully.

"Children! Children! You must return to the house immediately," a sweaty, overweight butler huffed. The pairs of twins had been spotted by an eagle-eyed nanny from the sitting room. "We can't have you getting lost in the gardens."

Still in shock from running into another set of twins, Avry followed the butler stoically. "They always ruin our fun," she heard the other twin grumble.

The butler led them back to the sitting parlor where children were being reunited with their parents. "Ah, Mandy, Avry we were wondering where you went." Their mother's polite tone held a note of anger. "Off exploring were we, Avry?" Avry knew that she was in for big trouble when she got home. "Thank you sir for bringing them back safely." She turned to look at the boys standing next to her daughters and recognized them immediately. "Come girls, we can't let you be around these boys. They might start begging us for money."

Fred and his twin scowled darkly. "See ya," Fred growled, stalking away with his brother at his side.

"You girls know better than to talk to peasants. It's not comely."

"They were nice mama," Mandy said in her sweetest voice.

Their mother made a skeptical noise in the back of her throat. "You girls have a better future than they do. You'll do best to never speak to them again."

Avry and Mandy were pulled towards the front door to return home. Avry looked over her shoulder one last time and saw both Fred and his brother standing next to their mother. She patted them tenderly on the head and gave each one a tight hug.

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><p>(6 years later)<p>

Avry and Mandy, now eleven, stepped onto the scarlet Hogwarts Express with all of the possessions they owned. Mandy held a cage containing a handsome eagle owl while Avry dragged along an old, slinky, gray cat.

"We have to write to mum and dad as soon as we get to Hogwarts!" Mandy squealed.

"Really? We just got on the train," Avry said, exasperated with her sister already. After age seven, Avry demanded that she have her own room separate from her sister who felt the need to be overly energetic about everything.

Mandy looked back at her sister. "But they'll worry about us. You know mum, she'll send a Howler the first day if we don't let her know we got there safe."

"Whatever, it's your owl," Avry grumbled, not caring if she ever talked to her parents again. The sisters still looked identical save for their haircuts. Mandy had a short bob while Avry sported chest-length locks. "Fucking hell, is there a seat anywhere on this train?" She growled, annoyed by the low capacity train.

Ahead of her Mandy raised her arms in triumph, announcing that she had finally found a good compartment. "It's about time," she snapped as she entered the room. A small boy with black hair and thick glasses sat with his face pressed against the glass.

Most of the children she and Mandy played with were a year younger than them, and wouldn't be attending Hogwarts until the following year. They knew one girl with curly blond hair, Suzanna, who was supposed to be going to Hogwarts this year, but through the rush of parents and children they hadn't found her yet.

"I'm so excited, we're finally starting Hogwarts! Just like mom and dad said. I wonder which house we'll get sorted into. I hope I don't end up in Hufflepuff like our cousin who no one talks to anymore. Aren't you excited too, Avry?" Mandy's wistful eyes looked south towards their destination. Avry was just as excited about Hogwarts, but decided to keep it to herself so she shrugged instead.

"Oh, h-hello," the boy finally stammered after taking his face away from the glass. "I'm Tom Lader."

"Hi! I'm Mandy and this is my sister, Avry." Mandy took off at a mile a minute chatting with the stuttering boy across from her. Avry decided to close her eyes and imagine what Hogwarts looked like. She expected it to look imposing, but welcoming at the same time; the perfect place to get away from her family.

After a long, chatty ride, the train pulled up to the station and deposited everyone. All of the first years were corralled towards boats while the rest were carted off in horseless carriages. Halfway across the enormous, pitch black lake, Avry caught her first glimpse of the high spirals and glittering windows of Hogwarts.

"I didn't know it was so big," she heard Mandy whisper in awe. The rest of her boat companions gaped openly at the grandness of Hogwarts. Something stirred beneath the boat and several students gasped as a long tentacle erupted from the surface momentarily before being pulled back under to the black depths.

"Nutin' ter worry 'bout. Jus' th' giant squid." Hagrid assured through his bushy beard.

Everyone arrived safely at the shore and began walking up the back steps to enter into the great hall. Mandy fell back in line while continuing to chatter with Tom and Avry stomped ahead to get away from the incessant talking. Someone behind Avry stumbled and bumped into her. "Sorry, these new shoes are killing me," a boy's voice spoke up.

She turned to find a boy with fiery red hair staring down at her. "Whatever," she mumbled back quickly.

Taking her snide comment as a sign to continue talking, the boy pulled up next to her and began chatting away. "What house do you want to get sorted into?"

"I don't care."

"I hope I get sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. My entire family is from Gryffindor so it'd make them mad if I wasn't in Gryffindor."

Avry had to look up at that announcement. She rarely met families with house legacies. Her mother had come from Ravenclaw and her father had come from Gryffindor. Two of her uncles came from Slytherin, two aunts and uncle were from Gryffindor and three of her cousins had been in Ravenclaw. "You don't want to disobey your parents," she warned.

Her mother had lectured both of them about being sorted into Hufflepuff. "If either of you girls ruins our good reputation by being sorted into Hufflepuff, you will be disinherited immediately."

The boy shook his head, confused by her comment. "It's not like they'll be angry. They'll just have a reason to make fun of us."

The line of students had reached the entrance hall and everyone gathered around a tall, imposing woman with horn-rimmed glasses and a tight grey bun. "Welcome everyone, in a few moments we will sort you into your houses. My name is Professor McGonagall and I am head of Gryffindor house. Please be patient while I check inside." The woman disappeared through the large doors.

"Wait, what do you mean 'us'?" Avry asked suddenly.

Another tall, red-haired boy appeared beside her. "Fred, are you ready to wrestle with the troll?" He looked at his mirrored brother standing across from him.

"We have to wrestle with a troll?" Mandy popped up next to the other red-haired boy and Avry found herself in a very familiar situation.

"Wait, you're a Weasley," she breathed. "A twin."

"I remember you two," Fred's twin said, taking in the view of the two twins standing side-by-side. "Your mum was real nice."

Avry knew the other twin wasn't saying it in a friendly way. "Our mum might not always be nice, but she can afford to buy us new clothes," Avry replied snidely.

"Like mother, like daughters," Fred bit back, turning a dark shade of red.

"Come on Mandy, they might start begging us for money," Avry snarled, dragging her confused sister away.

"What happened?"

"It was those poor kids again. They're no good," Avry unknowingly mimicked her mother.

Mandy looked back through the crowd, surveying the boys they had just run away from. "I forgot about them. They were the first twins we met!" Leave it to Mandy to put a positive spin on everything.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Just because they're twins doesn't mean they're anything like us. We're from a better family."

Professor McGonagall returned shortly with a large parchment in her hands. "Follow me. You will be sorted one by one." Hundreds of faces turned towards the first years as the doors slid apart with a groan. The line of first years stopped and surrounded a stool supporting an old and beat up hat. It burst into song, startling nearly half of the younger kids, and praised the four Hogwarts founders. "When I call your name, put the hat on and let it select to which house you belong." Avry waited impatiently for her name to be called, being forced to watch everyone else get sorted before her. "Avry Saunders!"

She stepped forward confidently and picked up the floppy, worn leather and placed it gently on her head. Scanning the crowd, she found Mandy looking at her expectantly. Just behind Mandy, Fred and George looked on stoically. She glared back defiantly as the hat began talking in her ear. "There is fire in your heart. A thirst for acceptance. A need for excitement. You wish to never return home." Avry swore that everyone around her could hear the loud thumping of her heart. 'Not Hufflepuff. Anything but Hufflepuff.' She took one last look at Mandy. 'Take me away from my sister.' "You would do well in.. SLYTHERIN!" Green-clad students cheered enthusiastically.

"Mandy Saunders," Professor McGonagall called before Avry even had a chance to sit down. Several people whispered the word 'twins' as Mandy stepped forward to determine her fate. Avry crossed her fingers that the hat would put Mandy in another house.

Mandy looked at Avry with large, hopeful eyes. "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled and a table of red and gold erupted into cheers. Several students sitting next to Avry turned to look at her with curiosity. She wondered if they would ostracize her for having a twin sister in a rival house.

"So new girl, what's with your sister?" A third year boy with slick black hair and dazzlingly blue eyes, sitting two seats down, asked while leaning around several other curious Slytherins. "Are we going to have a problem?"

Avry looked over her shoulder as Mandy walked cautiously towards her new house that welcomed her with open arms. "She's my sister. I was stuck with her; it doesn't mean I love her."

Several girls sniggered and smirks appeared on many of the boys faces. The third year boy's smile blew Avry away. "Welcome to Slytherin, new girl. I'm Blake." A couple of fifth year girls sitting across from her introduced themselves as well as a fourth and fifth year boy. Suddenly, Avry felt at ease - something she hadn't felt in several years.

She barely even prickled when she heard the name 'Weasley' being called by professor McGonagall. Most of the upper classmen laughed and jeered when they heard who was being called to the stool. "Oh look, another red-head Weasley. I can't believe they haven't died from starvation yet." A burly sixth year boy laughed near the end of the table. Avry snuck a smile.

More jeers erupted from the Slytherins when both Weasleys were sorted into Gryffindor. "We didn't see that coming," Blake said with a sarcastic lilt. "It's not like all of their brothers are in Gryffindor too. What a pathetic house." Avry looked on as George and Fred were pulled into proud embraces by their older brothers. Mandy, sitting near the edge of the table, looked up at Avry and smiled. Avry turned away quickly and laughed along while her new housemates made jokes about Fred and George.

After dinner, everyone stood up together and exited the great hall. Crowding through the door, Avry found herself smashed between a brunette Ravenclaw and Fred. The look on his face made it obvious that he had heard the jeers her house had yelled at him. "Looks like you found a house where you fit right in." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You're right, Weasley. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll always have one thing in common." She turned her back on him in silent triumph and followed her new friends to a new life of freedom.

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><p>I hope you guys are enjoying Friday andor Saturday depending on where you are. Let me know how you're liking the new story. I cannot wait to write the next couple of chapters. Avry is a new type of character that I've never written before, so we'll see how it turns out :D. Later ~ Kukaburry


	3. Flames of Desire

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 3 - Flames of Desire

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><p>The four years passed by without incident. Mandy had come to accept that her sister wanted to ignore her while in front of other Slytherins. She didn't blame Avry because everyone knew the Slytherin reputation. One relationship with a Gryffindor and you were an outcast for life. She decided to join the quidditch team to pass the time and made great friends of the Weasley twins who became beaters. Everyone in Gryffindor began to respect Mandy for her kindness and compassion. Whispers of 'evil twins' spread from mouth to mouth, but Mandy always spoke out vehemently against these horrible rumors.<p>

"My sister is the nicest person I know. Don't say mean things about her! You don't know anything about her." This only led people to saying that Mandy had a heart of gold to put up with her wicked sister. When asked why Avry hadn't gone home for any holiday and had even remained in Hogwarts during the summer, Mandy always found a flimsy excuse for her most 'adoring sister'. In truth, Avry wanted to be free from the bond of her parents who considered her the second half to Mandy. If they wanted her to be an only child, then so be it.

Avry bore the passionate tales her sister spewed with uninterested sighs and rollings of her eyes. "Like I care. Mandy is the most thick-headed girl I know. She would say a snake was still a charming creature even if it bit her leg off." She smirked at the sniggers elicited by her joke. "She's a moron guys."

"Then why does she beat you on all the exams?" A first year girl with a blonde ponytail asked.

Avry nearly snapped her neck as she whipped her head around to give the brat a menacing glare. "Because only Gryffindors and Ravenclaws care about their grades," She stalked over, grabbed hold of the girl's long hair and stared down intimidatingly. "You want to join them blondie?" She sneered as the girl whimpered a small no. "Good answer. You'd do well to learn your place, first-year."

"I heard your sister was seen hanging around with George Weasley," a fifth year boy spoke up from near the fireplace. His short cropped brown hair and hazel eyes complimented his square jaw and prominent cheekbones.

Avry glanced at him coolly, but inside she was actually startled at the idea. Had her idiotic sister really started seeing one of the low-life Weasleys? She pondered which of the red heads might be foolish enough to try and date Mandy. Fred was said to be more a flirt than his brother, but George was known as more outgoing in his pranks. Her sister had always been drawn to outgoing people. Either way, her parents were likely to have a conniption if she did date a Weasley. "What are you, an old gossipy woman, Adam?" She noticed Blake chuckling from his perch on the sofa. Avry knew she had to draw attention away from her sister before people began accepting the Weasley idea. "I heard that you were seen flirting with a Hufflepuff the other day. A Hufflepuff of all houses. What's the matter, can't get any smart girls to go out with you?"

"Hey, Hufflepuffs are easy in bed," Adam challenged.

"Excellent, I'll make sure to tell them all that tomorrow." She flicked her wand and a recording of Adam appeared saying "Hufflepuffs are easy in bed". The whole sitting area began roaring with laughter.

Adam fumed as blood rushed to his cheeks. "You bloody wench, you wouldn't dare." Several girls behind him chortled and he gritted his teeth. "You're one to make fun of other people's love life Avry. I haven't seen you with any guys since you got sorted in here. I guess there aren't any guys who find you attractive. Do you want me to tell everyone about the love letter you gave to me?"

Having the tables turned so quickly threw Avry off-balance. The air stilled as people waited for a reply that she didn't have. What an insolent kid, trying to best her at her own game. A smug smile began forming on Adam's lips. She remembered perfectly well when she tried giving Adam a letter of confession in her first year, but he laughed and threw the letter into the fireplace. "You're not popular enough to date me," he said in a cool, mocking voice. That had been the fuel to flame her rise to popularity in Slytherin along with slashing and burning all relations with her sister. Four years of cruel behavior had finally won the Slytherin crowd over. She was now stood on a perch above them all yet still in the shadow of the one person she could never catch, Blake.

The Slytherin prince and most sought-after male in all of Hogwarts. He was quiet yet stunningly powerful; his unruly midnight black hair and crystal clear sapphire blue eyes set every females hearts ablaze. His most admired feature was his wit which Avry tried and tried to emulate, but was only moderately successful. She had approached Adam as a stepping stone to gaining attention from Blake. When that path closed, she began digging her own way through the mountain of Slytherin social hierarchy. Her sharp mind remained on high alert at all times, calculating each action and step with precision. She had sacrificed friendships during the process, but it had been worth the position of esteem she now held. Yet at this very moment, she felt herself teetering on the edge of a slide back down the pyramid she had carefully ascended. Several dozen pairs of eyes looked at her expectantly, wondering why her well-known comebacks weren't making an appearance.

"That's because she's mine," a gruff voice echoed from the sofa. Blake stood up casually and threw a penetrating glare at Adam. "I'll warn you to stop watching her so closely," he added with a sinister sneer. "It makes it sound like you're drooling over her, not that I blame you." The smoldering look she was met with nearly melted her to the spot. She blinked and looked around, wondering if Blake was really saying this in front of the entire Slytherin common room.

Mouth agape, Adam looked Avry up and down as if seeing her in a new light. "Sorry man, I didn't know."

Avry nearly fell over when the words hit her. Did he just apologize? Adam Donnley apologized to her because of Blake? Even she hadn't realized the full depth of Blake's power, and now he was announcing to the entire house that she belonged to him. A shiver of awareness spread from her forehead to her fingertips and toes. Blake took a possessive step forward and tilted her chin up as his lips descended onto hers. Avry responded hungrily by placing a hand against his muscled chest, but his lips pulled away before she could get lost in the kiss.

"If any of you need us, we'll be upstairs," he pulled Avry with him up the winding staircase while whistles and jeers followed behind them. The dorm room door closed with a resounding thud, setting Avry's pulse racing even faster than before. If she didn't breathe she knew she would pass out from nerves.

"We're not um.. we're not going to.." Avry began hesitantly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Blake leaned against the tower window. "A thank you would be nice," he said with a hint of humor.

She looked up, startled. "Right! Yeah, thank you. I was thinking of telling him.."

"I've been watching you for a while, Avry." Blake walked forward, shedding his robes next to the nightstand. "You've become quite popular since you started here. Even though you have a sister, a twin sister, in Gryffindor you managed to win everyone over."

"Yeah, she's been a thorn in my side ever since we were kids. I couldn't wait to get rid of her."

"It's a good thing you did, otherwise this would have never happened," he gestured between the two of them to make his point. "You're the first girl I've been interested in since the last girl I dated. She didn't seem to understand how to get people to listen to her the way you do. She didn't know how to manipulate conversations either. I appreciate that in a girl." His eyes inventoried her entire body. "Now about tonight.." He began tugging his shirt and trousers off while approaching her on the bed.

Nervous energy made her scalp tingle with anticipation. "If it's something you want to do." She said weakly while staring at his well-sculpted chest.

Blake leaned onto the bed and hovered over Avry, his eyes level with her own. He seemed to be calculating something because she saw his whole body go still for several moments while he examined her face. Suddenly he leaned forward and captured her lips in a long, drugging kiss. "I'd rather wait until we've been on a proper date, wouldn't you?" His breath lingered on her cheeks. Avry grinned back at the sly smile on his lips.

"I'd prefer that," she exhaled almost too loudly. Blake slid down next to her and pulled the bed sheets snugly around himself then patted the pillow next to him while looking at Avry with an intense gleam in his eye.

She slipped off her robes and sweater and shyly dropped her skirt before sliding into bed. Her entire body mimicked a tomato from being this close to a half-naked male. That male being Blake Warren. Avry very nearly pinched herself to wake herself out of this miraculous dream. Blake pulled her close and began kissing her neck in sensual lines to her collar bone. His hand began snaking its way down her abdomen and rested just on the inside of her thigh. Pulse pounding loudly in her ears, Avry managed to ask hoarsely, "What...what are you doing?"

Blake brushed his swollen lips against her mouth and twitched his fingers farther inside her thigh, just glazing the elastic of her panties. "Just because we're not having sex doesn't mean we can't have fun."

Avry's gasp of protest was lost the moment his fingers slid under the elastic.

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><p>End another lovely, twisted, demented chapter. Whoops I went a little dark there didn't I? Final semester of college! I'm going to become a real person come December. I cannot wait. No really, I can't wait. Diploma now, please? ~ Kukaburry<p> 


	4. The Die is Cast

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 4 – The Die is Cast

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><p>A cool breeze wafted from the window bringing the scent of fresh rain into the dorm room. It curled its way through the bed hangings and slid temptingly beneath Avry's petite nose. Her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the dim lighting filtering through the slits in the hanging. Her ankles and calves cracked while she stretched languidly and rolled over. The first thing she noticed was a lack of warm muscle on her right side. She peered through the curtains, realizing that Blake hadn't wanted to wake her from her slumbers. Sighing, Avry began mulling over the events of the night. It hadn't been as earth-shattering as she had expected, but then again most good things in life were usually overstated. It had been an entertaining experience, to say the least. She wondered if it was the same with everyone or if it was different with different people.<p>

Avry dressed in calm silence and descended the stairs into the common room. A couple of people gave her side-long glances, but most simply stared into space with weary eyes and tousled hair. Her friend Haley sidled up alongside as they ascended the basement stairs and gave her an impish grin. "I know what you did last night."

"I doubt you do," she replied lazily as she walked past Slytherin's dorm room protector, a statue of an angry-looking wolf whose eyes followed the most suspicious looking students.

Haley pouted for a second then quickly grinned. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I'm a virgin and you're not. Way to rub it in."

"As much as I appreciate you complimenting my supposed sexual prowess," She gave Haley a coy smile, "You're only half right."

Haley frowned and thought about the comment for a moment before clarity hit her. "You didn't sleep with him?" She might as well have been holding a megaphone when she shouted it. Avry's death glare nearly froze Haley in her stockings. "You didn't sleep with him?" She repeated only half a decibel lower. "Are you crazy? Every girl in Slytherin would drop their knickers for him. Especially because he never goes out with anyone, which makes it all the more fun to chase him."

"Unlike some people, we can keep it in our pants on a first date," an image from the night flashed in her mind, "at least figuratively..." she added for good measure.

A blonde eyebrow flew up in surprise. "First date? He made it sound like you've been secretly dating for weeks now." Avry shrugged noncommittally and Haley let out a relieved breath. "That explains it. I thought you had been keeping a secret from me."

"Yeah, that would be a hell of a secret to keep," Avry mumbled. A glimpse of red hair set all of Avry's detectors on high alert. "Weasley," she growled deep in her throat while her fists clenched into stony knots. "Haley, go to breakfast. I'll meet you there." Ignoring Avry's request, Haley dogged her angry steps hoping to see Avry tear the Weasley boy limb from limb. "I said go away Haley." Avry hissed menacingly through her teeth. "You'll get it my way."

"O-okay, I'll see you later," Haley squeaked before hurrying away towards the Great Hall. Avry turned the corner to a dimly lit corridor that led to a dead end.

Fred heard her ominous steps approaching and turned around to face her. "Weasley." She saw his lips turn up briefly in a smile while his eyes darted down to the emblem on her robes. The smile quickly vanished replaced with a scowl. In Avry's mind, that smile had given him away. She knew he was the one seeing her sister. He was the one bent on ruining her reputation. His face remained impassive as she stood glowering at him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" There was a hint of mockery in his voice.

Not wanting to mince words she got straight to the point. "Stay the hell away from my sister you piece of trash."

Fred blinked once, twice, three times trying to somehow change or reinterpret what Avry had just yelled at him. Her flushed cheeks and blazing eyes indicated that she was indeed accusing him of dating her sister. "What?"

"Don't play stupid. I heard last night that you two started dating last week."

Clearly Avry was hell-bent on keeping him away from her sister which puzzled Fred because he had heard all of the stories about Avry essentially throwing her sister away during their first year. Wanting to milk the situation for all it was worth, Fred crossed his arms definitely. "So what? What will you do to me? Call me names?" Avry drew out her wand and brandished it threateningly. "Turn me into a frog?" He prodded.

"I'll curse your ears off you worm."

His head cocked to the side and his eyes silently taunted her. "I thought you didn't care about your sister? Why does it matter who she dates?"

"Because it reflects badly on me of course!" She spat as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If my pea-wit sister dates a blood-traitor like you then my reputation is ruined. Also you should know that my parents would never allow it, period. My sister and I have to marry into respectable families which yours is not."

He considered her words and brought a thoughtful hand to his chin. Pretending he hadn't heard her insult to his family he replied with a stony, "That's too bad, isn't it?"

"I swear I'll hex all of your limbs off Weasley," she growled as she raised her wand. "Tell me you'll stop dating her, now." The last words were spat with as much venomous force as she could muster. "I've worked too hard to have you ruin everything."

Fred cracked a humorless smile. "I wish I could."

Avry's eyes narrowed to slits and Fred swore he heard her hiss like a snake. Each step she took forward echoed off the cold stone walls and Fred felt a sharp jab in the back as he leaned away into a jagged section of the wall. "Listen here Weasley. It's four simple words. I. Won't. Date. Mandy. If you don't say them I'll make you wish you hadn't laid eyes on her."

"I already wish that," he bit back. The tip of her wand began pointing at his chest. "I'm sorry, but I'm not dating your sister."

It was Avry's turn to look startled. "What?"

"Do you even know which twin I am?" His question inflected like a challenge.

She stared at him for a moment too long. "Of course I know, you're..." she stared at him helplessly, obviously not even remembering that he and his brother had first names. "Your whole family is alike. I don't know how any of you know your own names." She floundered around helplessly trying to recover. Breathing a frustrated sigh she managed to growl out, "It doesn't matter who you are. You're both the same person."

"No, I don't think so." Fred replied evenly, giving her a superior smile. "I'm not the one shagging your sister." His words hit their mark as Avry's face blanched then immediately took on the hue of a beet. She opened her mouth to spew a colorful list of obscenities, but Fred beat her. "And if I recall, she owled _her_parents the day," the 'her' was emphasized as though he knew that only Mandy mattered to her parents, " that she and George started dating and you know what?" He paused for a beat to let his words sink in. "Your parents owled back this morning and said they had never been more thrilled."

Avry was completely gob smacked, mouth hanging open like a hooked trout trying to gasp for air. "That is a complete lie you troll." Her eyes gleamed angrily in the dim torchlight. "My parents never owl us. They haven't owled us since our first month at Hogwarts!"

"You haven't gone home in four years, why would they owl you?" His question wasn't malicious yet it stung like a slap on the cheek and she stepped back as though he had hit her. "And your opinion on who is a poor choice for boyfriend makes no sense considering I heard just this morning that you slept with Blake Warren."

"How did you hear that?"

"Hogwarts has eyes and ears everywhere, your highness." He studied her face before adding in a warning voice. "I don't really care what you do with your life, but you should be careful. I know you think he is the key to being famous," she shifted slightly at his accurate guess, "but you should watch out for him. I've heard some stories about him, about how he treats girls."

Avry laughed derisively. "I'm sure that as a blood-traitor Gryffindor you have access to everything that goes on in Slytherin." Fred's face hardened. "I've never seen him do anything to a girl in the four years I've been here." She paused, wondering if she should even tell him the truth. "And I'll have you know that he didn't even ask me to sleep with him last night." Fred snorted. "What am I defending him against someone like you for? You don't even matter. I can't even remember your name."

She looked him up and down once more, laughed scornfully, and sauntered away towards the Great Hall. "You'll remember it if your sister marries my brother." His voiced entered her mind like a whisper and she turned on her heel. Much to her surprise, the hallway was completely empty.

As she walked towards breakfast, her mind was occupied with several streams of thought. The first being how she would evade all the criticism of her sister dating a dirt poor Weasley. She would have to come up with a plan to either break the couple up or ruin her sister completely. A small pang of guilt flitted through her mind, but she waved it away like an annoying gnat. Some genius would come to her if she stopped worrying about it for a little while. The second stream was why her parents hadn't owled her in over four years. Fred made it sound like he knew her sister and her parents better than she did. He had even sounded remorseful on her behalf.

She entered the Great Hall and covertly looked towards the Gryffindor table. One of the twins, she assumed it was the one she had just talked to given his smug expression, watched her as she entered the hall. The other twin had his arm wrapped around her sister in a possessive manner. Fred whispered something to his brother and Mandy's head shot up with a bright smile plastered on it. She gestured frantically for Avry to come over and Avry answered by flipping her hair to the side and stalking towards the Slytherin table. She knew even her sister wouldn't be idiotic enough to approach this table. Blake's finger curved back and forth, enticing her to join him at the end of the table. A large hand grasped her bottom as she sat down and a pair of warm lips greeted her. "I've been waiting," he whispered in her ear.

Looking up from the table she watched her sister's crestfallen face through her shield of hair and George murmured consolingly in her ear. A pang of jealousy appeared momentarily, but was quickly crushed by a wave of anger. It was only a matter of time before Blake noticed how touchy feely the red haired kid was being with her sister. She had to do something to get rid of the Weasley boy. Something no one would ever forget.

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><p>I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends! I have had close to zero sleep the past two nights so I'm bouncing off the walls with adrenaline. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the insanity of the next. Until next time. ~Kukaburry<p> 


	5. Strangers with Candy

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 5 - Strangers with Candy

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><p>As she sat through Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, Avry pondered deeply about how she could get the two to break up. She couldn't risk being seen talking to her sister and she knew that if she tried to push the other Weasley he would likely push back ten times harder. Her distraction did little to improve her already teetering grades. Like most Slytherins she had the capacity and drive to become one of the top students, but the plotting of evil deeds left few resources available for studying trivial things. Potions normally fascinated Avry yet today she was completely consumed with chattering thoughts about Mandy and George.<p>

Blake had yet to say anything to her about the situation so she hoped that it wasn't glaringly obvious yet. That still left her with a small window in which to plan something diabolical enough to rip the two apart. She could curse them, make an anti-love potion, threaten his family, or take a polyjuice potion and change into the brother. Avry's head snapped up, inspiration hitting her like a ton of bricks. She could turn into the other Weasley! It only took two nights to brew a polyjuice potion and a couple of hours to brew a sleeping potion. She would have to use every resource available to her to get this plan in motion.

Avry thanked her lucky stars for being in Slytherin house since Professor Snape never asked questions when his house took some of the more dangerous ingredients. Once class was done Avry grabbed two collapsable cauldrons from the storage area and walked into the hallway heavily laden with bags of all the necessary ingredients. Someone bumped against her shoulder and she looked up at a freckled face topped with ginger locks. "I don't care which one you are, just bugger off before I punch you in the face." She snapped trying to walk quickly back to her dorm before her pockets ripped open.

"You look like you're having trouble walking," he chimed with a sly grin on his face.

"You'll have trouble walking too if you keep talking to me, and I don't think you'll recover from it either."

"Are you always this violent?" It was as though he could tell she wouldn't be able to reach her wand no matter how much he goaded her.

"Look you weasel, I don't have time to talk to a low-life, penniless Gryffindor. I'd love to hex those moles off your face, but I'm busy." She glared up through her eyelashes and felt the seam in her left pocket begin to give way. The last thing she needed was for any other professor to see what she had smuggled out of the potions classroom.

"You don't have time to chat with your future brother-in-law?"

Avry stopped so quickly she almost gave herself whiplash. A menacing growl crept up her throat and she considered whether or not the cauldrons were heavy enough to break his jaw. "No I don't. I'm too busy planning how to destroy your life." Every word was laced with pure hatred and George had the courtesy to look startled.

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><p>Everything was set in motion the day after her encounter with George. Her Hufflepuff slave, Hannah, had only squeaked in fear when she told her to deliver a box of candies to Fred Weasley. The candies contained enough sleeping potion to knock out a grown lion. Hannah didn't even ask why she had to deliver the candies, she just knew that Avry would punish her severely if anything went wrong.<p>

She put Charles, a fifth year Slytherin with muscles the size of her head, on the job of watching Hannah and Fred. He owed her for saving him from being caught cheating at Transfiguration. Once Fred bit into his candies, Charles would drag him into a broom closet and signal Avry. At seven o'clock Avry made her way towards the fourth floor where Hannah said she would meet with Fred privately. Voices made her stop short of turning a corner.

"I.. I made these for you," she heard Hannah's voice shake nervously.

"Wow, you made these all by yourself?" The sharp crinkle of tinfoil could be heard as Fred opened the package.

"Y-yes. I thought you might like them."

"They do smell good. Want to split one with me?" His hand scraped against the hard plastic as he pulled one of the chocolates out and offered it to Hannah.

"No!" She said a little to quickly. Avry smacked her face, watching her entire plan crash and burn before her eyes. She readied her wand, enacting plan B: paralyze Fred and force feed him chocolates. "I already ate too many. These are yours."

A lengthy pause ensued and Avry imagined that Fred was scrutinizing Hannah's obvious lie. She began moving forward with her wand raised when she heard Fred chuckle. "No worries, I understand. I want you to know that you look fantastic, though. Thanks for the chocolates. Bottoms up, eh?"

No sooner had the chocolate hit his tongue then the loud thud of a body hitting the floor echoed through the corridor. A small shriek emitted from Hannah's lips as she watched Fred crumple to the floor, but it dried up the instant she saw Avry rounding the corner.

"Is he going to be okay?" Avry rolled her eyes at the sentimentality of the girl.

"It's a sleeping potion, moron. He'll wake up in a couple of hours." Hannah continued to hover around Fred looking far too worried. "Get lost freak. You've done your part." The sight of Charles emerging from the nearest broom closet set a fire under Hannah's feet and she was gone in a flash.

"The Weasley kid fell for it, eh? Stupid twit." Charles shoved Fred in the gut to turn him on his back.

"Stop talking and put him in the closet you ape."

He dragged Fred's limp body as carelessly as possible, allowing Fred's head to hit a door, a mop bucket and even the sharp edge of a bookcase before throwing his body down against a couple of brooms. "What are you going to do with him?" His small monkey-like brian was working overtime to come up with ideas.

Avry placed her most menacing glare on her face. "Your job is done. Unless you want to end up like him I suggest you leave. No one will hear you scream." His blanched skin looked ghostly against his dark robes and his wide eyes flickered with sudden, visceral fear. Avry barely heard the door slam shut as she studied Fred's battered body. "You're in for a shock when you wake up you lump. This is what you get for threatening me." She bent down and plucked a particularly long lock from Fred's shaggy head and dropped it into her vial of polyjuice potion. She set it to the side while it fizzed and popped angrily. Fred was stripped of everything but his underclothes, and Avry shed her own robes and undergarments before placing Fred's tent-like clothes over her thin frame. She was taller than the average girl on a good day, but Fred's clothes completely swamped her. A somewhat pleasant odor was being released from the vial which had turned a deep shade of red. Avry pinched her nose and swallowed the sticky substance in one retching gulp.

The effects took place immediately with her skin turning into a gelatin-like substance and her bones rattling like shards of glass knocking into each other. Her hair parted and turned sunset orange and she felt herself shoot up suddenly, long legs emerging beneath her torso. It look a few minutes for the world to stop spinning, but once it did she looked down at her hairy legs and arms in fascination. "So this is what it's like to be a boy. No boobs, lots of hair." The masculine voice that reverberated in her head unnerved her. She had never realized how deep Fred's voice really was.

It was now only three hours until curfew so Avry crossed her fingers that a simple-minded Gryffindor would be walking around at this time of night. She knew Gryffindor house was either on the fourth or fifth floor she figured she would traipse the area several times in hopes of finding a willing candidate. She found her perfect candidate in the form of Harry Potter and his sidekick ginger. "Ugh, another Weasley," she groaned silently, biting back a sneer and vowed to destroy as much of Gryffindor's common room as she could before she left.

"Oi Fred, where were you? George was looking for you."

"Right, um, I was stopped by some idiot Hufflepuff girl."

Harry and Ron exchanged curious glances with one another. "I mean, this girl gave me chocolates." She corrected herself quickly. Pretending to be nice was turning out to be rather difficult. "Are you two heading for the common room?"

The two boys stared at her expectantly and settled their gazes on the picture behind her. She turned and found a picture of a robust woman sorting champagne glasses. "Oh, right. Umm.." Staring blankly at the fat lady brought no words of wisdom to her frantically working brain. "What's the password again?"

"Did the Hufflepuff girl drug you?" Ron joked. "I mean I can understand Neville forgetting the password, but you and George always remember them." Harry laughed at some unknown inside joke.

"Heh, yeah. I'm just a bit knackered really. Be a chum and help me find George." She hoped that sounded friendly enough to fool them.

Ron seemed concerned, but Harry innocently bought the act and said "Fizzy Bottom" before the portrait opened wide for them to climb through. "George went up to the dorm rooms a while ago."

"Later mates," She called over her shoulder before wading through the sea of red and gold. Some kind of body sanitizer would be needed after this excursion. The polished stone staircase reflected torchlight cheerfully throughout the common room. Every face was lit of up with a smile as though they couldn't imagine being anywhere else. It was utterly disgusting to Avry who wanted to vomit on the stairs and smear it all the way down the steps. Four levels up she pushed open a quietly creaking door and found George sitting alone among several bags of what she assumed were full of tricks and jokes.

"Welcome brother, I've missed my other half." A small lump formed in Avry's throat. That's something Mandy used to say to her when she came home after a long day away from each other. "I'm making party bags for the festival tomorrow. Do you have the ribbons and butterbeer?"

"Ah, no. I kind of got sidetracked on my way."

George's face became instantly alert. "What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing." She said quickly, her tongue tripping over Fred's words. "I just need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Look, have you really thought about what you're doing with Mandy?"

"What I'm doing with Mandy? Do you mean dating her?"

"Yes, you idio-." She snapped her mouth shut just in time. She couldn't get nasty yet or George would catch on that this was not his twin. "Yes, you dating her. I don't think it's a good idea."

George gave her a level stare. "Where is this coming from? You couldn't say enough good things about her the other day when her parents owled her."

"Yeah, well I changed my mind. I think she's a looney toon just like her sister. You don't want to get mixed in with that lot. What if her sister tries to hex you?"

Snorting in derision, George flicked a couple of bags angrily. "Her sister is worse than a looney toon she's completely bonkers. She tried to threaten me the other day like she owned the school or something. It was mental." He turned a small grin towards her. "Honestly there's no one I'm less scared of. I doubt she even knows how to cast hexes."

Shaking furiously, Avry jumped to her feet and pulled out her wand. "I'll show you a hex you bastard."

"Did I miss anything important?" A twin voice to her own spoke from behind them.

Avry yelped when she saw who was standing in the doorway. Fred leaned against the door frame in only his knickers looking unconcerned and impossibly smug. George glanced between the two Freds and began laughing hysterically then slung his arm around Fred's bare shoulders. "You were right Fred she did try to do it. I thought it that was Bicorn horn she was hiding in her robes the other day."

Hand moving with lightning speed, Avry brandished her wand threateningly. "Stupefy!" Her entire body went rigid as though her limbs had become plastic, and she watched the two twins approach her cautiously.

"How'd you know?" She roared angrily, trying to show less fear than she felt.

"We've been around enough Slytherins to know that they have really dirty tricks."

"But I gave you a sleeping potion. You should've been knocked out for hours!"

"Georgey here told me about his suspicion and we've both been taking sleep blocking potions in the morning. I only pretended to be asleep." Avry's face burned bright red. "It was fun watching you strip me down. I'm surprised you didn't torture me in my sleep." A sly grin made it apparent that he had seen her strip out of her clothes. "You're lucky I decided to wear boxers today," he added cheekily.

"Why the hell would you pretend to be asleep, you creep?"

"We wanted to know what you were planning."

"That's stupid."

"No, what's stupid is your grudge against your sister. You really thought that would get away with impersonating my brother? The second you walked in I knew he wasn't himself. I've known him since I was born. You acted nothing like him." When Avry remained silent George stepped closer while his eyes narrowed brow furrowed in concentration. "Is this the level you'd stoop to? Do you really hate your sister so much that you would sabotage her relationship?"

Fred stared past George's shoulder meeting Avry's cool gaze and studied her face intently. "That's not why she's doing it." George turned to look at his brother. "She has this insane idea that if her sister dates either of us then she'll become the least popular person in Slytherin." His lip curled in disgust of the idea. "She thinks her new boyfriend, Blake, will dump her if he finds out."

"What?" George asked incredulously. "You can't be serious. She really thinks that?"

Watching the two brothers stare at her like she was scum on the bottom of their shoes sent a shockwave through her body. "You don't know how they are!" Avry screamed, struggling to release the paralyzing effects of the stupefy curse. "You don't know how they treated me the first year. You have no idea what I've been through."

Every word rang true, but the brothers continued to look unsympathetic. "I don't care what you do Avry," George said in a low tone. "But I'll have you know that nothing you do will stop me from dating Mandy. She is the greatest girl alive. No matter how mean you are to her she still talks about you as though you're her best friend." His hand clenched around his wand in annoyance. "We may be jokesters, but we'll take matters into our own hands if you push us too hard. If you try to do anything to Mandy I won't be so funny anymore."

George's wrist flicked and Avry felt herself stumble forward, but she caught herself on a bed post before she fell over. Haughtily, Avry pulled her robes back into place and stalked between the twins. Fred handed her the tin of chocolates as she passed him. "Feel free to make me chocolates again sometime. Peanut-butter filled ones are my favorite." She tossed the whole lot of chocolates into the fireplace next to the door and slammed the tray against the wall.

"Oh, before you go," George began while pulling something from his pocket. Avry stopped to glare back at him as he raised his arm in the air. "Catch."

Every person in the Slytherin dorm room held back sniggers as they watched Avry stomp her way up the girls staircase. One particularly brave first year boy yelled out, "Why are you covered in pink glitter?" He thought he was clever until he felt a burning sensation spread throughout his body and he realized he was covered in baseball-sized boils.

Anyone who was listening closely before the girl's dormitory closed would've heard Avry cry out hysterically, "George Weasley will die."

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><p>Sorry it took a while to update. My computer decided to stop living :P. I'm writing this on my new very shiny Samsung laptop. Hope you all enjoyed it. Also someone messaged me and asked if I had a thing for 'Blake' since that name appears another one of my stories. I actually do not know a single person named Blake. It's just a nice bad boy name, right?<p> 


	6. Suffocating

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 6 - Suffocating

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><p>Every object Avry looked at pulsed red and every beat of her heart seemed to breath life into them. "George Weasley, that bastard, I'll never forgive him." She began kicking and punching her bed hangings in a delirious rage. "How am I supposed to live that down? He's ruined me forever. How could Mandy be so idiotic to date someone like him?"<p>

She laid herself across her bed and stared up at the silver canopy as flecks of light flowed across the sheets like liquid crystals. "Why does everything she do end up destroying my life? Why can't she just let me go?" Another question interjected itself into her head. "Why can't I let her go?" No, it wasn't time for questions like that. If she let herself think softly on her sister she would crumble back into the sorry, worthless girl she was four years ago. "Dammit Mandy, why won't you just disappear?" She screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked her pillows. After an hour she fell into a fitful slumber.

Several hours later she felt her bed shift and she bolted upright. "Shh, it's me," she heard Blake's soothing voice lull over her weary ears.

"How'd you get in here?" She asked groggily.

"I have my ways," he whispered mysteriously, putting himself under the covers. "I know you had a bad day and I'm here to relax you." He pulled her face towards his and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"No offense, but I'm not in the mood." It pained her to push him away when all she had dreamed about for the past four years was his supple lips kissing every inch of her body.

He ignored her comment and continued to kiss her deeper, delving into her mouth with his tongue. Fleet fingers unbuttoned her shirt and he broke the kiss just long enough to strip out of his own shirt.

Avry shoved against his chest, breathing heavily. "I mean it Blake. I just want to sleep."

His hand snaked down her legs and his fingers came away damp. "I think your body says otherwise."

"No, stop it." She struck out with her heel and kicked him in the groin by accident. "Crap, sorry, I didn't mean to kick you."

Blake's face instantly became a mask of terror and his hands closed slowly around her throat. "Did you even think what would happen to me before you did that?" His voice was steady and laced with anger. A small bead of sweat trailed from his hairline, down the bridge of his nose and dropped onto Avry's quickly flushing face.

"No, I just did it out of instinct." He gripped a little tighter, closing off her windpipe.

"So your instinct is to kick me?" He hadn't blinked in over a minute, eyes trained on her terrified face.

"No, of c-c-course not. I j-j-ust wanted you to s-stop." She wheezed, gasping for air, terrified that she wouldn't reach her wand in time.

A tremor began at his temple and made its way down his throat, stopping just above the collarbone jutting from his chest. He opened his hands, releasing her neck, and took a deep breath, stepping away from the bed. He pulled on his shirt and walked slowly towards the door. "Think about what happened here." She didn't even hear the door open or close, he simply vanished.

Still shaky, Avry continued to stare where Blake had leaned above her. What had just happened? She didn't have the brainpower to think about it so laid back down and stared at the ceiling. She stared for six continuous hours until the sun broke through her bed curtains and shone across her pale skin. Bloodshot eyes and dark circles gave her a ghostly semblance as she trudged towards the main hall. After six hours she still had not thought about what happened between them. She did exactly the opposite of what Blake told her to do. Her mind shut down completely, ignoring the entire ordeal. She would think about it when she needed to.

"Good morning sunshine, don't you look super today." Haley, flanked by a short, slender, blonde girl with a fringe, and a taller, wispy girl with dyed red and black hair. The two girls seemed a little in awe of Avry.

"I feel it."

"Hey, I think a little pink glitter just jumped out from inside your ear," Haley joked.

Avry had also not thought about the ordeal with the twins. "Har har. I'm going to fill your entire bed with glitter tonight then we'll see who's laughing."

"Right. Speaking of beds," Haley cocked her head to the side. "I heard a little something coming from your bed last night. Of course I couldn't really hear it because of that silencing charm you put up. Nice one, by the way. But it sounded suspiciously like a certain sex god that we all know and secretly drool over."

A cold mask overtook Avry's features. "If you value your life, you'll shut up right now."

All three girls looked stunned, but none more so than Haley. "Geez what pixie crawled up your butt? For a girl who got some last night you're sure in a bad mood."

"Our friendship is done. Now. How does it feel?" Avry's frosty stare rooted Haley to the spot. Neither moved for over a minute, but Avry was the first to move.

As she stalked away, the two girls on either side of Haley trotted after her, casting smug glances back at Haley. "Too bad," the girl with the fringe threw back at her flippantly.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Haley shouted after them. "You're going to throw away four years of friendship because of one thing I said?"

Avry stopped and turned around casually as though everything in the world was perfectly normal. "Yeah, I am. Got a problem with it?"

"You are a bitch."

A loud laugh escaped her. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Fine, I'm better off without you anyways. You are no one special, and you'll never be anyone special!"

Raising her wrist, Avry flicked her hand back and forth. "Blah blah blah. Thanks for the chat, let's do it again sometime."

Twenty minutes into breakfast Avry had finally cooled down enough to regret her actions from before. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go over and apologize, but her pride held her back. Haley had been a good friend to her through the years and she just up and ditched her over some stupid remark she said about Blake. Blake. Just thinking of his name set her heart skittering. She still didn't know what to think about the previous night's events. Her skin nearly peeled itself when the object of her thoughts spoke to her from the immediate right.

A bulky arm slung itself around her shoulders. "Hey babe, good morning." A hand crept up her thigh. "You look succulent today."

Panicked thoughts began racing through her head. Was this some kind of trap of his, was she supposed to talk about things first? She still didn't know what she was going to say to him. "Look, about last night."

"No, stop right there. Last night is completely forgotten. I forgive you. Those idiot Weasley kids were enough to stress over and you didn't want to do anything. That's cool with me" His voice was so gentle and silky that she was instantly lulled into a feeling of contentment. "Anyways, yesterday is complete history. All everyone is talking about is your fight with that chick Haley. Everyone is talking about how you broke her nose and beat the shit out of her."

"What?"

"Yeah, this big rumor spread about ten minutes ago." He dropped his head down next to her ear and spoke in a low, sultry voice. "Just thinking about it turns me on." To show her, he grabbed her hand and laid it on top of his constricted trousers. Avry turned ten shades of crimson and he chuckled softly. "I'm just teasing you." The glint in his eyes told her otherwise, but Avry relaxed slightly. "Look, I want to talk about something with you. About these Weasley kids. Why not just ignore them?"

She turned her head so hard that she felt her neck crick. "Just listen. I know that teaching them a lesson will make you happy, but this little war between you guys is not going in your favor. Obviously. It's kind of bringing your cool factor down a lot." Avry watched his mouth move, but barely registered the words escaping it. Why was he trying to convince her to stop fighting the people who were ruining her life. "You know what would be really sexy? If you just ignored them. Don't even acknowledge they exist. The cold shoulder is always the hottest thing a girl can do."

"I thought you said what I did to Haley was hot?"

"Trust me, that's the second hottest thing you can do. Which means if you ignored those red-headed freaks you'd be the most sought-after girl in Hogwarts." He leaned in and captured her lips for a few quick kisses. "Promise me you'll stop fighting with them."

She had seen Fred and George walk in with broomsticks followed closely by her sister sporting her own Nimbus 2000 and in those few moments a brilliant plot had formed in her head: A quidditch accident. Blake followed Avry's gaze, eyes narrowing in annoyance. Crossing her fingers, Avry spoke softly into his ear, hoping her words rang true. "I promise." A little white lie wouldn't kill anyone, would it?

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><p>Ugh doesn't Blake just make your skin crawl? I'd like to find a giant mallet and smash his head in.. but I can't.. because he's one of my characters and I can't kill him off.. yet … muahahaha. Anywho feel free to leave a review :D ~Kukaburry<p> 


	7. Burn it Down

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 7 – Burn it Down

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><p>The fall Slytherin-Gryffindor game happened in three days, and quidditch, as everyone knew, could be a dangerous sport. The spark that kindled Avry's spirits earlier in the morning raged within her now. It would all look like a little accident. George's broom would collapse and he would fall to a quick, and hopefully painful, demise. She imagined his broken body lying still on the ground and felt queasy. Rethinking her plan, Avry contrived a less grim elimination of George. Perhaps, she thought, he could be mortally wounded instead of cremated.<p>

Between classes, Avry spent the majority of her time searching for useful spells. Slytherins, as a rule, avoided people catching them in the library so she threatened a couple of first-year Ravenclaws into gathering several books on quidditch brooms and special hexes.

On Friday afternoon, the day before the match, Mandy came across Avry sitting in an alcove reading a book on how levitation spells worked in brooms. "Hey there big sis." Mandy's familiar greeting set her blood boiling.

Not wanting to deal with her sister, she snapped, "Sod off Mandy."

"Why are you reading that?" Mandy asked curiously, pretending as if Avry had not been ignoring her presence.

Rolling her eyes, Avry tossed the book into her satchel and stood up, leaning against the coarse stone wall and shivering at its icy touch. "So I can curse the broom of a sister who can't take a hint." She spat angrily and stalked away, leaving Mandy looking perplexed and sad. A small constricting feeling wrapped itself around Avry's chest, signaling that she was not as indifferent to her sister as she wished. Before she registered her words, she spoke over her shoulder, "I look forward to seeing you drop like a fly out of the sky." Mandy's doleful eyes sent another pang of regret mingled with guilt resonating through her heart.

Guilt for how she treated Haley and Mandy ate at her conscience for several hours, but she knew that the sooner she enacted her plan; the sooner things would go back to normal - both with Haley and Mandy. An hour before dinner, Avry snuck out to the quidditch pitch and easily broke into the Gryffindor changing room. The air smelled of fresh hay and shoe polish. Seven jerseys emblazoned with gold lettering hung on the wall. Avry itched to throw all of them on the floor and stomp repeatedly, but she focused on the plan. George's broom stared at her from near the end of the row, and Avry couldn't help but notice that Mandy's Nimbus 2000 leaned against it. Pushing Mandy's broom out of the way, she performed three magical spells on the broom. One to slowly increase the broom's weight, one to weaken the levitation spell, and one to splinter the broom into tiny shreds when it reached the weakest point.

Deep down, Avry knew this plan was flawless. She studied and she sneaked like a perfect Slytherin. Beaming, Avry opened the door and fumbled around with the lock before snapping it in place.

"Ah ha!" Two voices she had come to loathe shouted in unison. Putting on a cool and unconcerned mask, she turned to face the twins.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" One of the twins asked.

Wondering how much the twins had seen, she shrugged and threw out a curveball answer. "I'm trying to break into the locker room." She struggled to pull a bored look.

Both twins raised their eyebrows. Fred continued to look annoyed while the other studied her. "You're just going to admit it?" The same twin asked suspiciously.

Avry shrugged. "Well, yeah. What else should I do? Pretend I was polishing the lock?" She swore she saw a true smile tug at his mouth, but a sardonic grin quickly arrived in its place.

"You hear that, George? She's giving herself up."

Holding her hands up in defense, Avry laughed as though she found the whole ordeal hilarious. "You found me guilty of what, exactly? Failing to break a lock?" She poured on the sarcasm, hoping they would take the bait. Fred looked to George, unsure of how to continue. "I see you're working hard on some kind of comeback. How about I walk to the castle and you can owl your response to me."

"Mandy said she thought you might be planning something." George piped up.

Continuing to laugh, Avry replied without bothering to turn around, "My sister has a head full of air. She saw me reading a spell book and decided that 2 + 2 = 17. Now if you are finished trying to accuse me of something I did not do, I'm done with both of you."

Avry heard one of the twins whisper, "That was too easy."

"Hey Avry, just think that tomorrow when Gryffindor beats Slytherin my brother will celebrate with your sister." Ignoring him took every ounce of strength she had and she stomped away. She looked forward to seeing his look of despair when his brother lay prostrate in the Hospital Wing. An unwilling image of Mandy crying at George's bedside popped into her head, but a quick squeeze of the eyes banished it from her mind.

As Avry fell asleep that night, she felt warm hands grab her waist. "Here's my good girl," a husky voice whispered in her ear. "I haven't seen you all day," he pouted, kissing the side of her neck and trailing a hand down the front of her shirt and under the hem of her skirt. Even though she felt tightness in her chest, she decided not to push him away this time. "I heard you were having a row with your sister and the Weasley's today." His voice held a hint of accusation.

"How did you know that? Are you following me?"

His hand stopped its trek down her thigh as he turned an all-knowing look to her. "Darling, I have eyes and ears everywhere. Why do you think they call me the prince?" His blue eyes sparkled with hidden knowledge and secrets swam just beneath the surface. "Now, why were you going at it with them again? I thought you said you were done?" His grip tightened on her arm.

Hiding her guilt, Avry snorted in annoyance, pretending that he offended her with such a question. "Don't be so suspicious. Mandy asked me a stupid question and I walked away, totally ignoring her. As for the Weasleys, I'm working on it. They just get under my skin." An annoyed flush rose from her chest to her cheeks.

His gaze softened slightly. "Well if you're working on it, I guess I'll let it slide today." He nibbled her earlobe. "Just put them all out of your mind, they're nothing compared to us." She relaxed into Blake's soft touch. "Here, I'll give you something else to think about," his wicked grin and skilled hands erased all thoughts from her head.

Morning rays rolled in much too early in Avry's opinion. Rolling over to the cool pillow next to her, she realized that Blake slipped off in the night without waking her. A steady padding of feet on the floor outside alerted her that the game was starting soon. She found pair of shiny binoculars at the bottom of her trunk, perfect for watching George fall.

Immediately after entering the dining hall, Avry felt the suspicious stares of George, Fred, and Mandy boring into her back. Double satisfaction came from ignoring them and knowing that none of them knew her actual plan was already in motion. After grabbing a handful of toast for breakfast, Avry began the trek down to the quidditch pitch. Blake dogged her for a minute before asking her to save a seat for him. "I gotta talk to Marcus real quick. Back in a tick."

One of the Weasley twins appeared at her side. "So what exactly are you planning?" He asked her in a lowered voice.

Keeping her gaze on the dirt path ahead, she played dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'll make it simple - are you going to do something to my brother?"

A wicked smile curved her lips and she watched him out of the corner of her eye. "How do you know I don't have something planned for you?"

"Cut the crap, we both know you're after George." He turned his head further to the side and eyed her speculatively. "Actually you might have something planned for your sister for all I know." The urge to defend her actions against her sister were overwhelming and confusing, and Avry remained silent in case it slipped out. Taking her silence as indifference, he growled, "Fine, don't say anything, just know that I will get you if anything happens to either of them."

Rolling her eyes at his show of masculinity, Avry replied sarcastically, "I thought you Weasley's were supposed to be funny?"

Fred grabbed her arm firmly and stared directly into her eyes, not even a glimmer of humor left in his features. "When it comes to my friends and family, I'm as serious as it gets." A strange mixture of uneasiness and attraction crept its way through Avry's body. Her heartbeat quickened at the intensity of his stare. Deep down she knew his threat was more than empty since the worst he would do was pull tricks on her, but the protectiveness in his voice allured her. Even the thought of attraction to a Weasley made her feel sick. "I'm glad I'm finally getting through to you." A satisfied smile finally settled on his face.

Pulling her arm free of his grip, Avry's lip curled sourly. "Piss off. I don't need your kind threatening me." They parted ways a few steps ahead when she headed towards the pitch and he veered off to get ready for the game. His words echoed threateningly in her head several minutes later.

A cool breeze swept down the hill to the quidditch pitch causing every person to pull their robe hoods over their heads. Gray clouds occasionally rolled across the sun, blocking all but a few of the rays of warmth much needed by students huddled together in the stadium. A group of Slytherin girls and guys spotted Avry sitting near the staircase and altered their path to join her.

"Where' the boyfriend?" The girl with black and purple hair named Lorraine asked Avry, almost in a pouting voice.

"I don't know. I'm not his keeper."

"Of course she's my keeper," Blake said with a sly wink, appearing at Avry's side. "I missed you," he brought her lips up for a short kiss that left her face tingling. Lorraine looked like she was about to melt into a puddle at the sight. Avry found herself thinking 'If you want him so bad, take him', but shook herself for letting that thought cross her mind. She had worked hard for her position as Blake's girlfriend.

Lee Jordan, the Weasley's best friend, began announcing all of the Gryffindor players. The surrounding crowd hissed like snakes when Potter was announced, but Avry saved her hiss for the twins. Peering at them, she wondered which twin was which and cursed herself for not taking the time to remember their idiotic faces. Lee yelled out their names, one after the other, and she eyed George with malice as he raised his fist in the air causing the Gryffindors to cheer wildly. His time was nigh.

"And Gryffindor gets the Quaffle first! Bell and Saunders rush up the side, double-teaming the keeper. Bell fakes and throws it to Saunders who throws it at the third hoop and score! Ten points to Gryffindor." The maroon third of the pitch exploded in excitement.

"Flint and Grande take it down the side, passing it off to Dervil. Chase and Mackim hit the bludgers at Saunders and Weasley smacks one back. Way to go George! Show them who's boss.. Oh sorry professor. Dervil throws back to Mackim and Slytherin scores. Ten to ten."

The scores went back and forth for twenty more minutes, but Avry hardly paid attention. All she noticed was George's decreased speed and ability to control his broom. She knew her spells were working. For once she was happy that the Weasleys were poor and couldn't afford good brooms. If they owned Nimbus's, like her sisters, her spells would have bounced right off. George began staring at his broom angrily and he yelled something at his brother before he dropped several stories in the air. The crowd gasped and watched his descent. He hovered at forty feet from the group before his broom snapped in half. Unfortunately, no one noticed George drop with shreds of broomstick keeping pace, because at the same moment a deafening bang from another forty feet up caught everyone's attention and all eyes watched Mandy Saunders's flaming body fall to the ground and land with a sickening 'crack' only a meter from George's still form.

Water rained from ten different wands, extinguishing the flames surrounding Mandy, and the only thing Avry heard through the ruckus was a girl's voice shrieking, "Don't die Mandy! Don't die!"

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><p>Oh yes. Yes, I did. I'm so evil it's hard to quantify. I'm not even going to speculate what happens in the next chapter because a good writer leaves their readers in suspense. ~Kukaburry<p> 


	8. Hate is Thicker Than Blood

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 8 - Hate is thicker than blood

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><p>The entire stadium erupted into chaos. Dumbledore roared at all of the students to go back to the castle, but Avry remained where she stood, looking on completely devoid of emotion. Three teachers began whispering spells over the two broken bodies. The sound from the pitch died away momentarily, sounding distant and tinned. Her vision tunneled so only Mandy and the teachers leaning over her were visible, leaving dark blurred lines blocking the rest of the field from her sight. In her mind, time stopped and all she could hear was her own labored breath and stuttering heart. Mandy. Her Mandy. Her Mandy who always smiled even when she said hurtful things, who cheered everyone she touched, who loved everything about her sister even though she was a Slytherin and said cruel things to her. Her Mandy was slipping away from this world with each breath so Avry willed time to stop and leave Mandy. Until this moment, Avry did not realize how much her sister, her twin, her other half, meant to keep her whole.<p>

Someone behind her bumped her shoulder and the world snapped back into focus like a rubber band. She had done this. Somehow, her spell had gotten to Mandy's broom and caused it to explode.

Fred hovered over George until he lifted his head and looked around, scanning the crowd and finally settled on her face. There is a saying that 'if looks could kill', but in this instance Fred's look would have burned her to a crisp, chopped up her body and fed it to the squid on barbeque sticks, it was so ferocious. Unable to hear him, she saw his mouth yell something towards Professor McGonagall. Someone pulled roughly on her arm. Looking up, Blake's face loomed over her threateningly. "You should go," his voice was commanding and his expression dark and dangerous.

"No."

He looked at her skeptically. "Do you want to get caught?" The tone of his voice indicated his annoyance with her ignoring his command.

"Yes." Avry's deadpanned response elicited a careless shrug from him.

"Well, your funeral."

Professor McGonagall and Snape hurried towards Avry, wands raised in anticipation of her trying to escape. "You'll have to come with us Miss Saunders. We've been informed that you may have had something to do with this."

"Is she okay?" Avry's voice broke barely above a whisper. "Is Mandy...ok?" Tears erupted from her eyes in a steady stream.

Professor McGonagall looked sideways at Professor Snape. "You have to come with us."

"No, please. Please tell me." She continued to whisper hoarsely, fearing the worst from the gloomy looks the professors passed back and forth.

"She's in a critical state. She will be taken immediately to the Hospital Wing. No, you cannot see her at this moment," McGonagall added at the end when Avry opened her mouth. "Now, come with us."

Like armed guards, Snape and McGonagall flanked either side and steered her towards Professor Dumbledore. Many students watched in interest as Snape and McGonagall led Avry past George and Mandy.

"This is the suspected student?" Dumbledore asked while observing her over his spectacles.

"It's what the boy suggested," McGonagall stated.

"Let me guess: Fred Weasley," Avry spat hotly.

Glancing down, the teachers ignored her comment. "Please hand over your wand."

Avry gripped her wand, never realizing what the consequences of her actions would be. She had imagined George lying in the hospital wing for weeks, long enough to convince Sarah to break up with him, and no one ever knowing what really happened. She could not imagine the reaction her housemates would have when they found out she had killed two people.

"Avry," Snape's commanding voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Give us your wand." His black eyes held no emotion as he stared at her like a bug under a microscope.

Shakily, she dropped her wand into his rough hands, fighting back tears. She felt a creeping sensation up her spine and the hairs on her neck lifted despite the scarf wrapped around her neck. Looking back, she found Fred staring at her with a look only described as pure, unadulterated, fury. He sat next to his brother, holding his chalky, clammy hands. A strange sensation chipped away some of the ice cubes in her heart when she saw George move his head from side to side, testing his muscles and Fred's attention ripped away from Avry. The twins spoke low between one another and Avry strained to hear them. Were they talking about her? About Mandy?

"Ms. Saunders, can you explain what spell you used on these two brooms?"

Avry remained silent, unsure of what kind of trick they were trying to pull on her. She would not admit to anything unless they could prove she did something.

Dumbledore's expectant look became slightly annoyed. "Ms. Saunders, you have performed three dangerous spells. One for brittleness. One for excess weight. One for slowness. Is that correct?"

Three sets of eyes watched her closely and she lifted her head in defiance. "Yes."

"And you decided to remove them and use a fourth spell with someone else's wand?"

A heavy pause accented the weight of the conversation. Avry replied dumbly, "What?"

"I will not tolerate your attempt to stall, Ms. Saunders. You gravely injured two students. I will have Professor Snape bring down his veritaserum and get the truth from you. Now tell me, how did you produce the fourth spell?"

Looking to Professor Snape for assistance, she replied unsteadily, "I didn't use a fourth spell! I used the three you said. I never removed them." Unmoved, the three teachers continued to watch her silently. "Honestly, I didn't. I wanted to humiliate that stupid Weasley brat so I put spells on his broom. Only those three spells."

"What about the exploding curse?" Dumbledore's voice was even, but his eyes were keenly trained on her face.

"What exploding curse? I only did those spells! Why won't you believe me?"

"Very well. Until further notice, you are under suspicion. Your Hogsmeade privileges are revoked and you will stay here during the Holidays."

"I don't go home during the Holidays," Avry spat.

"Good, then this won't feel like a punishment." The way he stated the words made it feel even more like a punishment.

As she walked back to the castle, she pondered what Dumbledore said. An exploding curse? Did she accidentally use an exploding curse on his broom? No, it didn't explain how Mandy's broom also received the spells. She remembered pushing it into the corner, away from that disgusting Weasley's broom. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she subconsciously tried to kill her own sister. It had been over a week since she slept all the way through the night. Maybe she was losing it. It made sense on some level. She wished she had been born into a different family, one that actually cared who she was and what she wanted. Mandy, without even trying, automatically drew people to love and care for her while Avry seemed to repel everyone at some level.

The image of Fred's blood lusted eyes popped into her mind and she flinched, willing the image to disappear, but it floated in front of her eyes for several moments before fading back to the dull gray of stone and storm-streaked skies. Heart pounding, Avry began sprinting up the back stairs towards the hospital room. If she looked into her sister's eyes, she would know for sure whether she did it on purpose. She did not bother thinking what would happen if it turned out to be true - that would come in due time.

The room was oddly quiet for a weekend afternoon, especially when two Gryffindor quidditch players were in there. Every single step of her foot echoed off the dampened. She felt like she was walking through a thin layer of water that rippled around her like a cape. She walked into the second room and saw Mandy and George laying side-by-side on scratchy, egg white bed sheets. A few drops of a green liquid slowly meandered down the side of a cup on George's nightstand indicating Madam Pomfry's quick work at trying to heal George. Mandy's nightstand, however, remained barren.

Avry tiptoed towards Mandy's completely still body. The ringlets of black hair haloed across the pillow and gave Avry shivers of impending doom. Pasty white skin nearly shimmered in the low lights. Clips of Mandy from her childhood danced across her eyelids. Two conflicting emotions welled up inside of her: reverence of her better half, of her childhood best friend, of the one person in the entire universe who understood exactly how she felt, and complete and utter hatred. She wasn't surprised by the latter emotion, but she was surprised at how quickly and easily it bubbled to the surface. It made her wonder if, even for a microsecond, she had accessed that hatred and unknowingly made one tiny error. She sat at the edge of the downy bed and watched the steady breaths come in and go out. If she accessed that rage one more time, she could finish the job. If she really wanted to, this was the perfect chance to get rid of the thorn in her side for the rest of her life.

It was a strange feeling, earlier this morning she felt nothing but pure love for her sister, but now she began feeling doubt. She loved the memory of her sister - the sister who always followed her decisions - the sister who would talk her parents out of punishing Avry just for one night - the sister who always saw something good in Avry despite what her friends and family said. The doubt festered from the thought that someone so good and innocent could actually exist, and could unknowingly bring her entire life crashing down because she was a goody-two-shoes-Gryffindor. "Why didn't you choose Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff? Mom and dad wouldn't have cared. Not for you. You could've been a squib and they would've loved you no matter what."

"What the fucking hell are you doing in here you murderer?" Fred's voiced dropped with every word, thickening with his boiling rage. "Get away from them you coward." He rushed forward and pulled her bodily from the bed. "You have no right to look at them after what you did. Did you come here to finish them off?" His muscles contracted so tightly that his arm started shaking.

"I'm not doing anything you lunatic," she spat, trying to wrench herself from his hand caged around her bicep. "Dumbledore said there was an exploding curse on the brooms."

"On your sister's broom," he corrected loudly, clenching his fist even tighter, trying to cut off circulation. "Yeah, I just talked to him. Your charms worked beautifully on George's broom, you evil witch. Why didn't you use the exploding charm on both of them? Wanted it to look like it wasn't you?" Avry began panicking at the feral look in Fred's eye. "Yes, he told me about the convenient lack of exploding curse from your wand," he answered her wide-eyed question.

"I told you I wouldn't do that to my sister," her voice lacked conviction this time. She surprised herself into finding her deep-seeded hatred for her sister. It was possible her sleepless nights consisted of her sleepwalking and cursing her sister's broom. There did not seem to be any other explanation at the moment.

Sensing her hesitation, Fred shoved her away and yelled out the petrifying curse, but Avry threw up her shield just in time. "I know you did it, so you should take what's coming to you."

"Your brother is fine! Why would I kill my sister, but not your brother?"

"Because you're twisted and cruel. How should I know?" He paused, watching Avry's eyes dart in every direction looking for escape. "Because you're trapped in a world where your twin is better at everything and you wanted her gone."

"Don't try psycho-analyzing me, Weasley. You're out of your depth on that one. I've known since birth that my sister is better than me, I live with that fact and I accept it." The muscles in her eye began twitching, hinting that she was not entirely truthful. "I don't hate my sister. I hate your brother for trying to change her, to try to turn her into one of you Gryffindors. She does what I say, not what you say."

"Are you listening to yourself right now? You can't control her just because she's your twin. Maybe you're the reason she hasn't reached her full potential. Maybe if you weren't around she would be one of the greatest wizards ever."

"Is that how you feel about your twin?" She challenged, eyes filling with icy tears.

"Of course not, because we don't drag each other down. We help each other. We actually love each other. Your sister says that she loves you, but I think she probably just feels sorry for you because you're so pathetic." His laugh sounded hoarse and manic. "This is why it's so insane that you're trying to get rid of her. She's the only person in the entire world that cares what happens to you." His dark brown eyes, completely devoid of emotion, chilled her soul. "You're alone."

Their wands fired at the same moment and each of them sprawled to the floor just as Professor McGonagall hurried into the room followed closely by Professor Snape. "What on earth is going on here?" She watched their bodies twitch uncomfortably. "That's it; you both have detention tomorrow evening. You will deal with each other then. Professor Snape, please escort your student back to the dormitories."

Snape levitated Avry and stepped over Fred's prone form. "You're...dead." They both gasped before passing out.

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><p>Daaaang. Fred went all crazy-talk on Avry. What's up with that? Repressed feelings much? I think I've been watching too much HouseBones/ whatever else causes me to write so much about mental instability. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Comments are welcome with open arms and legs and mouth and... wow wait.. that sounded kinda wrong. Actually very wrong. Ah well. I'll leave that for you wonderful readers to enjoy and chuckle at. ~Kukaburry


	9. Blank

Twins in the End

By Kukaburry

Chapter 9 - Blank

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><p><strong>**Warning, Trigger Below** Skip to the next chapter due to non-consensual relations.<strong>

Avry did not realize her popularity would rise from marveled to worshipped in less than two hours. After waking up from her charm-induced nap, she came downstairs to thunderous applause. "You showed those smug bastards!" Several people cheered. "Watch out boys, she's gonna slash you!" "Let's burn those Gryffindors down for good, those arrogant jerks!"

The cheers should not have surprised her considering how long most of the Slytherins had waited to do something really, truly awful to the Gryffindors. "There she is," two sixth year boys hoisted her on their shoulders. "Let's hear it for Avry. She did what none of us dared to do!"

Half of the room roared their appreciation. A chant of 'Avry' began and soon the entire dorm echoed with the sound of her name. Two mugs of butterbeer found their way into Avry's empty hands. "Tonight, we celebrate."

Three hours later, in a drunken haze, Avry stumbled back to her room and spun into a drifting dream where she watched Mandy fall from her broom over and over and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She awoke to the feeling of someone sliding on top of her, when the dizzying fog cleared slightly, she found Blake's fully naked form pumping between her legs. When she looked down, she realized her body was also completely naked. "Wa-... sto-..," she mumbled, unable to form words which panicked her even more. How long had he been doing this?

"It's okay baby, I'm using protection. Nothing to worry about," he reassured her with his low, silky voice. "Everything you did today was so hot, I couldn't handle myself. I wanted to get inside you all day. Now we're finally together."

Avry could not figure out why her body would not respond, she urged her arms to move and yet they lay numbly next to her. An unbidden tear rolled down her cheek. "Don't cry sweetheart, this shouldn't be hurting you at all. I gave you a little something extra during the party to... relax you. The first time is usually painful for a girl, so I wanted to spare you that." He continued conversationally through thrusts, acting like this was something perfectly normal. "I saw you watching me all night during the party. You wanted this as much as I did." In her mind she was screaming at the top of her lungs, hoping someone, anyone could hear her. Anyone could rescue her. That anyone might care enough to stop it. However, no one could hear, she was completely alone even though her suitemates quietly surrounded her.

Time had no weight in this moment, it seemed like he continued for hours. No matter how hard she tried to urge her useless limbs to move, they continued to resemble lumps of dead flesh hanging from her torso. "Oh Merlin, baby, you're so nice. I'm almost finished here." He squeezed his eyes closed in absolute pleasure then lowered himself down to the bed. "It'll be better tomorrow night, I promise. You won't be as sore." He pet her, almost affectionately, on her cheek then gathered his clothes. "Who knows, if you're a really good girl, I'll make it feel good for you too."

Seconds, minutes, hours ticked by; Avry was not sure how many, but even though the drugs had worn off, she remained immobile as if her skin had melted into the bed beneath her. Something scraped across the floor nearby, and an owl hooted near the window yet Avry heard nothing. The image of Blake hovering over her with that cartoonishly happy smile would not fade from her mind. She tried seeing past his face, at the curtains above, but it would snap back into focus on his horrifically calm face.

His comment about how she had been eyeing him all night; that she wanted it as much as he gave her the most trouble. She thought back to the party and wondered when she had actually talked to him or at least looked at him. Most of the time she was being force-fed drinks by every other Slytherin in the room. Digging deep in her memory, she recalled a brief moment when they locked eyes across the room. Was that what he was talking about? How did that come across as wanting to have sex with him? Did she smile? Was there a lustful glint in her eye that she couldn't remember?

The more she thought, the more she did not want to think, the more she wished it would disappear forever into the blank hollows of her mind. For the next few hours, she practiced imagining a blank wall. She imagined that wall slipping between herself and Blake and she was finally safe. If her mind remained empty, she would not have to think about or feel herself being violated. Now she could just wait for the Weasley kid to take care of the rest and she would never have to remember anything again. With that, she rolled over and stared at the gray stone for the remainder of the night.

* * *

><p>Snape came early in the morning to announce that Avry was to remain under house arrest for one week while they figured out how to ensure safety for both George Weasley and Mandy. He also announced that her detentions with Fred Weasley were extended to a week as well. According to Dumbledore, he said, this would provide an outlet for herself and the Weasley boy to come to an understanding. "And I expect the Headmaster does not mean a romantic entanglement," Snape added with a sneer as though he had made a truly clever joke.<p>

A flash of Blake skipped across her mind and she slapped herself a few times to get rid of the image. Snape looked on with increasing suspicion of her insanity. "Your meals will be brought to you here. I will escort you to detention at 18:00 tonight. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," she responded automatically, not really registering anything he said. His black eyes watched her rigid movements closely, wondering why she seemed so mechanical, but he did not have the time to sit and find out as Dumbledore needed him for different potions to try to cure the girl's sister. He billowed away, leaving Avry to her innermost thoughts.

Three house elves appeared throughout the day, but Avry left every morsel untouched, not in the mood to eat anything lest her stomach upheave everything. She sat in an emerald green cushion and watched the fire in the hearth dance back and forth, entrancing her. She wondered if this is what meditation felt like: sitting and forcing the mind to think of absolutely nothing. At half past five in the afternoon, Snape fetched her and escorted her to Hagrid's hut. Nothing about Avry's blank stares or frozen features seemed to concern her Head of House. Like a tightly wound robot, Avry copied Snape's movements from the dungeons down the hill to the hut. Normally she had some kind of snide remark to offer Hagrid, but through the solidifying white walls built up in her vision, she barely took note of his unkempt beard and patched-up robes.

* * *

><p>"Alright ye two," Hagrid stated calmly after Snape was gone. "We're going out into the Forest to try and collect Unicorn and Werewolf droppings for Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout. They're trying to cook up some new medicines to treat paralysis."<p>

"Hagrid, is there anything dangerous out there?" Fred asked, peering into the mist with unease. The high-pitched, near-human scream of some unknown animal far in the distance sent shivers down his back.

"'Course there is, Fred. What ye don' think Werewolves is dangerous?"

"Oh, right," he mumbled, embarrassed that he asked such a simple-minded question. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, I'm supposed to let ye an Miss Saunders go with Fang down one path and I'll be goin' down the other. Werewolves are usually down the other way so ye'll be lookin' fer Unicorn mos'ly."

"You'll need to come pick up one of our dead bodies," Fred muttered just loud enough for Avry to hear. If she had been paying any attention, she might have given him a sarcastic laugh, but nearly all of her mind had shut down, allowing her body to walk on autopilot.

The oppressing silence of the woods increased the farther they walked, and at the juncture with a particularly old, near-dead oak tree, Hagrid parted ways. "After two hours Fang will lead ye back ta' the hut. Throw up a red flash if ye get in ter trouble. Here's two sacks fer the dung."

Swallowing hard, Fred nodded. "Thanks Hagrid." Watching the giant's back disappear a few meters to the left, Fred turned to Avry and nodded down the other path. "That's us." He took Fang's lead and padded softly on the dirt trail. Avry followed in mute silence. "Why are you so quiet today? I thought you would've celebrated last night." He looked at Avry's wide-eyed, unblinking stare. "Are you actually feeling sorry for what you did?" Still no response.

A dry laugh ripped from his throat. "Of course you don't feel sorry. If you felt anything at all you wouldn't have done it in the first place." He was barely able to resist snarling at this point. "You're just an evil person who does evil things. I'll be happy when horrible things come back your way because you'll deserve every single one of them." Clenching the leather lead in his hand, he continued on his rant. "Why the hell did you even end up this way? Your sister is so nice, yet you're so completely fucked up. What is that? Were your parents just too rich? Yeah, I'll bet that was it. Growing up in a rich house with rich house elves and rich servants. That must have been so rough. Oh, and growing up with one sister, that must have been tough too. All the suffering of dealing with one other sibling, now I totally understand why you're messed up." His sarcasm became thicker as he ramped up his ramblings. "And all those toys your parents must have bought you. What a terrible life. You know what, I take back everything I said. It was 100% justified; every shitty, horrific thing you've done to your sister and my brother. Completely understandable."

"Actually, if you have anything left why don't you just punish me too. I deserve it. We all deserve it for ruining your rich, perfect life by existing." He stopped and turned to Avry who continued to stare straight ahead. "How about it? How about jinxing me? Try to kill me, I dare you." He took a short, menacing step towards her, eyes blazing with unleashed anger. His arms and legs trembled with boiling rage, the images of his brother half-dead on the ground fueled him. "What's the matter? Afraid you'll actually get in trouble this time? Afraid that someone might find out just how screwed up you really are? Those perfect Slytherin friends of yours, maybe? Oh right, they'd love it wouldn't they. Your entire lot is completely fucked. You all revel in it."

Fred waited a minute and realized that Avry had yet to react to a single word he'd said. "What are you doing? Are you playing some kind of game with me? React!" He smacked her on the shoulder to get a reaction. "React, damnit! What the fuck is wrong with you?" He fired a jelly-leg jinx and watched, with deep satisfaction, as she fell to the ground directly in a particularly wet and squelchy spot. "How do you like being on the losing end? How does the humiliation feel?" He was mere inches from her face, half-laying in a small puddle of mud.

The scene in front of Avry shifted; it was no longer Fred treating her the way she deserved to be treated, but Blake's smiling, lecherous face peering over her. The whitewash barrier she had been building all day sifted into little pieces and floated away allowing all of the images of his body writhing on top of hers to flood her mind. "No! No, get away!" The words that were trapped within her throat the previous night ripped through her vocal cords and spewed from her lips. "Stop it, stop! I don't want this. I don't want it." Hysterical sobs wracked her body as she continued to squirm her upper body, flailing her arms in defense. Fred was completely shocked by her reaction and stood up quickly in confused fear. He noticed she wasn't even looked at him, but directly up at the dampened sky. He couldn't figure out what was attacking her.

"I'm sorry, calm down!" He yelled, trying to capture her vicious swings with his fists. This only encouraged her to act more outrageous.

"Why won't you stop? Get off me. Get off! I never said yes…" a loud hiccup escaped her chest, "why won't you listen? Why would you do this! Please stop. Stop it. Stop it. Stoooop. Stop it. STOP." Her cries of 'stop' became more hysteric, more feral, and more animal-like than any noise Fred had heard before. Avry continued to scream and wail 'stop' until Fred removed the jelly-leg jinx.

"Ok, I've removed the jinx, can you calm down?" Her hysterical shrieking was terrifying and nothing he said was getting through to her. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, Fred noticed that a large amount of makeup was being washed from her cheeks and her neck. A blue and black bruise peeked through the mountain of foundation. "Holy shit, who did that to you?" He said more to himself than to Avry.

"Avry, stop it now. There's no one here, no one is hurting you." Fred surprised himself with these words. "Wake up Avry, I don't know what you're seeing right now, but it's not real." While her cries became a little less wild, she showed no signs of relenting her invisible attack anytime soon.

Trying a new approach, Fred sat down next to her, careful to avoid her wild swings, and smoothed down her hair in short, tender strokes. It felt odd giving support to someone he hated so thoroughly, but clearly she was in a completely different world, seeing someone else do something horrific to her. "Avry, it's alright. You're safe." Even to Fred his voice sounded mechanic so he repeated them, softer and with more feeling. "You're safe, Avry, you're safe."

Gradually her arms stopped flailing and her shrieks diminished to sobs which dwindled to whimpering. After thirty straight minutes of her nightmare, Avry came round and finally blinked, seeing the true world around her. She smelled the damp, rotting earth sticking to her neck and chin, she felt the mud squish beneath her shoulder blades and the tiny drops of dew cling to her exposed skin. She heard the crisp sound of trees snapping and wind whistling through their branches, and she finally became aware of a soothing hand on her temple and the soft chanting words, "You're okay. You're safe. You're not there anymore."

Avry became very aware that Fred Weasley was sitting next to her head, stroking her hair, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by allowing her reactive outrage to take over. Instead, she opened her eyes and looked up towards the night sky barely visible through the long, curling tendrils of fog. "It's going to happen again tonight." She spoke to the wind, hoping something out there in the woods would come and tear her to pieces before she had to go back to her dorm. "I can't stop it."

"What's going to happen?" Fred asked in a cautious voice, trying not to send her back into a psychotic tirade. Avry remained quiet, and he assumed she wasn't going to answer him.

"It." She whispered while sitting up from the mud and soil now caked on her clothes. Ignoring the clumps falling from her elbows, Avry turned towards the path they were on previously and walked towards the darker section of forest.

Fred watched her for a moment before taking Fang's lead in his hand once again and looking down at the great beast. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Wow, I'm going to be honest, that was one of the most difficult things I've written. I think I actually cried a little writing the scene between Avry and Fred. I have no experience with situations like this, but I think it's definitely possible to imagine a small fraction of the terror people go through and try to extrapolate from there.<p>

Anyways, I'm not usually such a morbid person. The next chapter will be a little bit lighter I hope. Feel free to check out some of my happier fiction to lighten the mood (basically everything else!) ~Kukaburry


	10. Tumbling

**Twins in the End**

**By Kukaburry**

**Chapter 10 - Tumbling**

* * *

><p>The mud became deeper and Avry found herself walking like a horse with each step, lifting her legs high through the suction of dirt and water then plodding it back down as lightly as possible. They walked for endless minutes in silence, looking at the ground for signs of recent animals, when a thought occurred to Avry. "Did Hagrid tell us what Unicorn poo looks like?" She asked.<p>

A groan of frustration soared over her head. "No, he didn't." Fred stated flatly, annoyed that they had forgotten to ask such a simple question.

"Maybe they poop rainbows and sprinkles?" The thought popped from Avry's mouth, surprising both herself and Fred. Somehow letting go in front of Fred helped Avry relax and move on to the next stage of dealing with the issue: acceptance. All bodily power had been lost in front of Fred, yet he did not use it to harm her, instead he went out of his way to try to soothe her. Rationally, Avry didn't understand why he would do such a thing. If their roles were reversed, she would have done something horrible to him.

Perhaps, she thought, this is really what he meant by calling her evil. This is the difference between good and evil. The difference between kicking someone while they are down and helping them stand back on their feet. One was infinitely easier than the other was. It was so reminiscent of Mandy and her constant goodness; Bringing a roll to Avry when she was sent to bed without dinner, rubbing oil on the marks left by their father's lash spell, pretending to run away with Avry every couple of weeks. The goodness that Avry always admired and wished she could possess. However, her parents made it clear that this was not meant to be Avry's allotment in life. She was a shadow child, born and raised in the eclipse of another, always outshone and outloved by her twin. Mandy was the person she could never be. Every light had a dark.

"Maybe it will smell like cupcakes," Fred mused, rolling with Avry's suggestion. "Maybe they fart cinnamon."

"I could go for a cinnamon roll right now," Avry murmured, stomach growling with hunger.

"Are they not feeding you during house arrest?"

She hadn't realized that he knew about her house arrest. "Does everyone know about that?"

"Well, that one girl, what's her name, Haley? The girl with long black hair. She was talking loudly about it this morning." Avry's expression turned grim. "I thought she was a pal of yours."

A soulless laugh trickled from her mouth. "It's Slytherin, there are no such things as friends."

"I think that's the most profound thing you've said." Avry recessed back into herself, thinking about her current relationships. She pushed Haley away for asking about Blake, and very possibly, she only asked out of concern. She became friends with two ugly-hearted girls just out of spite to Haley. She allowed Blake to do almost anything to her because she needed the support of the most popular person in Slytherin. Not to mention the number of younger Slytherins she had bullied and pushed around just for fun, just to show that she had control over them. What was the point?

"Why don't you change things?" Fred's voice cut through her thoughts. "You've climbed all the way to the top for what? For fun? Why don't you change the course, make it better for next Slytherins. You don't have to be the same as the others."

"What do you know?" She snapped, guard back up at maximum. "Gryffindors have no idea what Slytherin is like. One person means nothing."

They continued in tense silence for a few minutes. "If one person means nothing," Fred started slowly, "Then why does everyone listen to that Blake guy?"

"It's not just B-B..Him", Avry stuttered hard on his name, feeling nauseous just thinking of it. "It's B-him and the people he manipulates. That's the only way to matter in Slytherin: be the best manipulator." The best manipulator. The best intimidator. The best...raper. Had he gone after other girls like this or was she unique? How many others had he tried to strangle for disobeying him? Knowing the other girls in Slytherin, probably none. She couldn't imagine any of them telling him 'no'.

Fang whined loudly and started pulling in the other direction. "It looks like we have to go back now." They turned and back-tracked their previous steps. Avry's face became even more sullen than before. "Why don't you play that game then, and take over that way? You have the charisma, and I'm sure your little stunt got you enough points," he added snarkily. "Why do you have to be a bad person just because you're surrounded by bad people? Just manipulate them into being good."

Sighing loudly, Avry shook her head. "Gryffindors are so optimistic it's disgusting." The ideas rolled around in her head, unsettling her already jumbled thoughts. "I can't do it. He has too many people in his hands."

"Including you," Fred replied darkly. "Well if that's the case, we have nothing to talk about." They spent the next hour in mutual silence until they got back to Hagrid's with an empty bag.

"S'alright. Maybe ye'll fin' sum termorrow." He dropped his overflowing bag of rancid-smelling feces outside the door. "I might let ye go on yer own since I's got more then enough tanite."

They, meaning Fred, said goodnight to Hagrid and walked back to the castle. "I don't know what happened to you, but you should know that I don't think you deserve it." He said quietly. "And I think you deserve quite a long list of things."

"It's not your concern."

"You're right, it's not." He agreed in a monotone voice. "But the point is, it shouldn't be your concern either."

Avry allowed Fred to walk ahead of her, eventually slow to a halt just outside the dining hall entrance. "It shouldn't be your concern either." That Weasley kid made everything sound so simple and profound. Nothing in Avry's life had ever been that simple. When her parents locked her in her room for a week, should she have not let it concern her? When her mother made her walk across broken glass just to teach her a lesson about not dropping things, should she have said 'This doesn't bother me'? No. She learned from her mistakes as a child. There was no soft side of life, only those who won or lost. She was a winner and she could take care of Blake without the idiotic advice from a penniless redheaded boy.

Her feet unknowingly took her to the hospital wing. All of the regurgitated childhood memories must have caused her to think of her sister. Professor McGonagall sat in a lounge chair just outside the wing and her face drew tight when she saw who was walking the halls this late at night. "Back from detention already?"

"Yes," she answered immediately. "Is Mandy awake yet?"

"No, not yet." She answered coolly, eyes glinting behind her spectacles.

"Can I see her?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Saunders." Professor McGonagall didn't supply an explanation because both of them already knew why.

"If she wakes up…" she began, and then thought better of leaving a sentimental expression with a teacher as powerful as McGonagall, "tell her she's lucky." She stated roughly and stomped away.

'Tell her I miss her.'

Avry made it to bed just in time for lights out forty minutes later. She pulled the sheets tightly around herself and made sure the bed hangings were tightly closed to give Blake a hint that nothing was going to happen tonight. 'I'm going to tell him that it's over if he does get in.' She told herself firmly. She was stronger than Blake was. She didn't need him to make herself known. 'Watch out Slytherin, a new master is coming.'

* * *

><p>"Miss Saunders. Miss Saunders." A voice echoed much too close to her ear. Was there a fire? Why was there someone standing over her bed? "Open your eyes, girl." Why couldn't she open her eyes? It felt like they were glued shut. With much effort, she ripped one eyelid open and saw at Madam Pomfrey standing over her looking gravely concerned. Behind her, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall stood like two sentries barring a little wooden door. Hold on a moment, this was not her bed. Where was she?<p>

"Where am I?" Even her voice seemed stapled to her vocal cords.

"You're in the hospital wing. Do you remember what happened?"

"What happened?" She repeated dumbly, finally seeing the stoic expressions on Snape and McGonagall's faces. Did she do something bad?

"You had a nasty tumble down the first and second floor stairs." Why would she be on the second floor at all? "Can you tell us why you were out this late?"

Gray static burned through her memory. "I..I don't know."

"That is convenient," Snape whispered in his most spine-curling voice. "How about a drop of vertiserum to help you remember." He handed her a cup of water and gave a look that promised terrible consequences if she didn't drink it. It took a few minutes to allow the liquid to pass through her raw throat. "Now, what were you doing?"

"I don't know." All three seemed surprised that she had been telling the truth.

"Where were you going?"

"I don't know."

"Why did you try to kill your sister?" McGongall finally asked.

"I didn't." That answer truly did shock them.

"Why did you try to kill George Weasley?"

"I didn't." Avry's flat voice answered more than they expected. "I just wanted to hurt him."

"I think that's enough for now," Madam Pomfrey snapped. "My patient clearly needs to rest." The two professors shuffled out followed closely by Madam Pomfrey who left a thick green concoction next to Avry's bed. "I'll wake you in a few hours for breakfast. Try to drink that in one swig." Unable to think of anything else, Avry choked down the green goo and fell into a very restless dream.

Madam Pomfrey kept Avry locked in the private room through lunch, but finally seemed to feel comfortable enough to keep the door slightly ajar by midafternoon. Avry listened to someone read a novel about sprites and fairies in the other room, which brought a lump to her throat. One of Avry's favorite creatures as a child was tree fairies that helped grow forests in the wild mountains.

No one came by to check on her even though she heard another person talk about her accident. "They're saying she tried to kill herself by falling down the stairs." She tried to drown out the rest by humming some of her favorite songs.

Snape came by before dinner to announce that she was reprieved from detention for tonight. "I'm told that you were unsuccessful in your…" he paused with a knowing sneer on his lips, "hunt… the other night, so you're expected to attend tomorrow once you are healed. I expect you to fill two pouches before the end of your detention Miss Saunders."

* * *

><p>"Avry, wake up," a male voice called to her. "Hey, come on now." He shook her slightly, which aggravated her still-sore muscles. She opened her eyes and focused on the person sitting on the edge of her bed. "There she is," Blake said with a tender smile. "You look better," he said while smoothing her cheek with is fingertip. Avry couldn't make herself talk; all words had vanished from her mind.<p>

"What? You're not happy to see me?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "I guess that's fair. You're still processing what we talked about last night."

"Last night?" She echoed the words like a puppet. When had they talked last night?

"Oh right, you wouldn't remember that yet," his tender smile spread into a wide, cruel grin. "It's part of the spell. Don't worry; it'll come back to you soon."

It dawned on her, was he the one who made her fall down the stairs? "You… did you do this to me?" She gestured at her bruised face and body. His grin turned into a bone-chilling Cheshire smile.

"I told you, I control you baby. You do what I want, when I want." His pupils seemed like two desolate pits drawing her in.

"But there's no way you could..." she began shrilly.

"Oh but I can," he laughed, "I most certainly can. I know spells that would make Dumbledore's toenails curl under." He leaned down and stole a slow, sloppy kiss from the defenseless girl beneath him. "Come talk to me when you've had a chance to remember our conversation. I trust you will make the right choice. I'd hate to hurt that pretty face of yours anymore."

* * *

><p><em>Ugh. He gives me the heebie-jeebies. What a disgusting person. Why did I even bother writing someone as horrible as him? Let's see what Avry does next! Hopefully, chop off something near and dear to him. ~Kukaburry<em>


End file.
